


Seal It with a Kiss

by NymphadoraTheTemplar



Category: Magic Kaito
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fae & Fairies, Fictober 2019, Kitsune, Kumiho, M/M, Magic, kitsune kaito, otherwise this is a general audiences story, rated teen and up for that one 'Bad End' bonus scene i included, youkai AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 05:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NymphadoraTheTemplar/pseuds/NymphadoraTheTemplar
Summary: While reading through thefictober 2019prompt list, my mind started forming various scenes that I could see nicely fitting together to form one story; then a little inspiration hit and voilà~ One hakukai fic with my take on a kitsune Kaito AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**October 1st「It will be fun, trust me.」**

There was a pair of what looked to be normal young children dressed in white kimonos, except for the pair of fox ears and matching pair of fluffy tails that they each had; the girl had snowy white fur with sapphire blue facial markings and the boy had raven black fur with crimson red facial markings.   
The boy didn’t bother to hide the whine of his voice as he spoke to the girl, “Come on Aoko~ We’re finally able to maintain a proper human form. We can go visit the human festival!”  
Aoko’s ears lowered in trepidation, “I know you’ve always been fascinated by the humans, but Aoko’s also heard about the scary things they can do...what if we get caught? I’m scared Kaito.”  
Kaito gave her a confidant grin, “Don’t worry about that, the village nearby is peaceful and loves kitsune.” He pulled out a softly glowing leaf from the purple drawstring pouch he had hanging off his belt, “Plus my dad gave me this protective charm in case any danger does appear.” Tucking the leaf back away he gave her a more reassuring smile, “It’ll be fun, trust me.”  
Aoko’s ears slowly raised to a relaxed position, “Well if you say so, Kaito.” She gave an enthusiastic nod, “Okay, let’s go to the human festival!”  
Black tails waved in excitement, “Alright!” He turned grabbing her hand, “Come on, we have so much to check out before the night is over!”  
The girl let out a small laugh as her male friend led her towards the exciting air filled with the sound of music and smells of delicious food, waiting for them just outside the forest they lived in.

[ Lovely art by [Poki/Chibs](https://sup-poki.tumblr.com) ] 

**October 2nd「Just follow me, I know the area.」**

The festival was as fun as Kaito promised with food that tasted as delicious as it smelled and games with interesting prizes. They were walking back home— Aoko happily holding the cute little plush tanuki that Kaito had won for her, the vendor had called it a phone charm?— when they both sensed it. A human had entered the spirit part of the forest. Normally humans weren’t able to find the entrance but nights like this are special, which was why festivals are usually held. So sometimes it was possible for humans to wander in on a night like this.  
Curious, Kaito immediately headed in the direction he sensed the human.  
Aoko was much more apprehensive, whispering, “Kaito why are you going towards the human!”  
But the black kitsune didn’t listen as he continued without her.  
“Geeze Bakaito, don’t leave me behind!”  
They quietly hid in some bushes to observe the human when they found him. It looked like a young boy that was about seven sun cycles old with hair that matched the fiery orb’s golden rays; an unusual colour for the humans they’ve commonly seen in the village outside the forest. He wore an olive green yukata and seemed to be searching for something as he wandered around.  
Kaito stared at the boy for another moment before deciding to leap out of the bushes.  
“Ah! Kaito wait—”  
But he didn’t stop until he was next to the human, “Hey, what are you doing wandering this deep in the forest?”  
Amber eyes widened in surprise before the boy gave Kaito a reprimanding look, “There you are, don’t you know that it’s dangerous to be in this forest at night?” The blond dropped his stern expression to look around in worry, “Where’s your friend? Wasn’t she with you? I saw you two leave the festival together.”  
Kaito let out a loud laugh at the human’s statement, “You’re worried about _us_ being in the forest? When _you’re_ the one who shouldn’t be out here this late? _Kekeke_.”  
The human looked offended, drawing his eyebrows in annoyance, “It’s not funny. We need to find her and get out of here.”  
This only made Kaito laugh harder, “Oh no. _Kekeke_. It’s pretty funny, you just don’t understand, human.”  
The human narrowed his eyes in confusion, “What are you….” he trailed off as Kaito started to summon some simple fog to roll around their feet.  
“You better run along home now human.” The fog started to rise up around Kaito, “As for me, I’ll be staying here in my forest” With his final words the fog enveloped him completely as he pulled one of his favourite disappearing acts and rejoined Aoko where she had stayed hidden in the bushes.  
Kaito had to keep himself from laughing out loud at the shocked expression on the human’s face as he stood there staring at the spot Kaito had been before quickly glancing around for a clue as to where he could be.  
The boy shook his head, “I should have figured they were youkai.” He turned around preparing to head back when he paused to assess where he currently was. He took a few steps in one direction, paused and turned to another direction with a searching look that soon morphed to worry.  
The boy looked lost. Well that wasn’t good, the human did need to return home, so Kaito left his hiding spot once again to help the boy.  
“Come on the village is this way.”  
While the surprised boy did seem a little relieved that he had come back, he also seemed a little wary. “How do I know you’re not just leading me into a trap to eat me?”  
Kaito tilted his head as he gave him a deadpan look, “Really? If I wanted to eat you I would have already.” He let his ears and tails show, “Look I’m a black kitsune, a bringer of good luck! Nothing to worry about.” Kaito held out his hand to the human, “Just follow me, I know the area.”  
Amber eyes studied him for a moment before a hand reached out to take the offered hand and Kaito led the human out of the forest safely.  
They stood at the shrine that was near the entrance of the spirit part of the forest, overlooking the village below.  
“Here we are, you can make it back on your own from here right?”  
The human nodded, “Thank you.”  
“No problem, goodnight!” Kaito turned to head back into the forest.  
“Wait!” The boy called out, “What’s your name? My name’s Saguru.”  
Kaito paused, Saguru huh? Like the word that means ‘to search’. It must be in the boy’s nature to search for things then, that is how he meet this human, how amusing. Kaito wondered if he should tell a human his name. Looking at the boy, he didn’t give off any ill intent and had in fact risked his own safety in order to find him and Aoko, who he thought could be in danger.  
“It’s Kaito.” With a small grin he disappear into the forest, leaving Saguru who gave a happy smile in the direction the kitsune ran off in before he too made his way home.


	2. Chapter 2

**October 3rd「Now? Now you listen to me?」**

It had been a week since the night of the festival and meeting the amusing human. Kaito was on his way back from the shrine near the spirit forest entrance. Using his enchanted pouch that allowed him to carry a huge chest full of stuff in a convenient sized bag, he had collected the offerings the humans leave for the youkai that live in this forest. It was a job that he has always wanted to do since it seemed fun to be able to gather all the goods and distribute them to his village, and the bigger reason, because the shrine was in the human world and had a great view of the human village that lay down below it. His father had been letting him do the job ever since he gained his second tail.  
Then Kaito encountered it again, the scent of a human nearby. The scent wasn’t coming from the shrine, it was coming from inside the spirit forest. But this time it wasn’t a festival night, the boundary between worlds shouldn’t have been thin enough for a human to be able to cross into the spirit forest. That must mean there’s a powerful exorcist, or worse, a slayer.  
The black kitsune ran towards the human despite the scary thoughts of what the human might do, he needs to get a good look at them and warn the village if the human is a danger. As he silently approached the source of the scent, carefully searching, it started to smell slightly familiar. Kaito suddenly realised why when he spotted the golden hair.  
He came out of hiding to approach the boy, “Saguru? How did you get here?”  
Saguru greeted him with a smile, “Kaito! There you are. I remembered the path you took when leading me out of the forest, the one by the shrine, and followed it.”  
“But you’re a human.” The kitsune leaned forward to get a better sniff of the other boy, yep he definitely smelled human.  
Saguru sent him a confused look, “Yes, I am...you do know humans are capable of remembering and following paths right?”  
Kaito’s own confusion was not getting any clearer, “But this is the spirit part of the forest, you’re not supposed to be able to enter this area! How did you get in here?”  
Saguru looked around at the foliage surrounding them, “Oh, is that why it feels so much calmer in this part? But I was able to come here the night of the festival.”  
“That’s because the boundary between the spirit world and the human world becomes thinnest on nights like the festival one, sometimes allowing humans to cross over. But today is a normal, thick boundary, day.”  
“Maybe it’s because of my time spent with fae. My mother says the faeries took a liking to me when I was a baby and so they will often visit me.”  
Examining the boy a little closer, Kaito could make out another, otherworldly, energy about Saguru that wasn’t just an illusion of the way the light bounced off his pale skin and hair as Kaito had first thought. Saguru must be blessed by fae folk, the lucky brat, allowing him to be able to do things that normally only humans who have trained their spiritual energy can do.  
Kaito gave a shrug, “Unusual, but makes sense.” He shook his head, “Well, how you get in here, doesn’t matter to the other youkai. While the youkai of this forest are peaceful enough when in the human part, I can’t guarantee the same for when a human is in the spirit part, especially since the kind of humans that are able to cross on their own, are usually out to get youkai.” Kaito glanced up at the fading light, “It’s getting late, you need to go home.”  
Saguru’s joy at finding Kaito quickly turned into displeasure, “No way, I finally found you after a week, who knows when I'll get to see you again!”  
“I don’t have time to play with you today, go home.” Kaito turned away to head back to the spirit village, he really did need to bring the offerings back. His father entrusted him with the task.  
But instead of leaving the forest, the human followed the kitsune.  
“Oi. Stop following me” Kaito began walking faster.  
Saguru began following faster. “Then promise you’ll meet me tomorrow.”  
Kaito’s brow furrowed in annoyance, “Why should I meet with you? I have things to do. And I told you to stop following me.” It wouldn't go well if he brought a human to the spirit village.  
“Because we’re friends and I want to learn more about you.” He determinedly kept up with Kaito.  
“Since when are we friends!? I helped you one time because I’m a nice person; that doesn't make us friends, we barely know each other. Seriously, stop following me!” Kaito broke into a run in an attempt to shake the boy off his tails.  
But to no avail as Saguru was surprisingly nimble for a human. Was it because of Saguru’s stupid fae blessing?  
And he somehow still had the breath to shout at Kaito, “That’s why we should get to know each other better!”  
“Fine if you insist on following me,” Kaito made an abrupt one eighty as he determintly marched towards the village, “I’m heading back to the human village then.”  
But to add to Kaito’s annoyance, that’s when the human decided to stop following him.  
He stopped in his tracks to stare back at Saguru, “Seriously? Now? Now you listen to me?”  
And his parents thought he could be stubborn but they should meet this human, it was starting to look like he wouldn’t be able to convince the boy to go home until he promised him. As annoyed as he was, Kaito didn’t want the boy to spend the night out here, even if the forest wasn’t too dangerous around here, it’s still not the best place for a young human.  
He let out a defeated sigh, “Alright alright. I promise to meet you at the shrine tomorrow morning.” He met the boy’s determined filled eyes, “So will you please go home now?”  
Saguru raised a skeptical eyebrow.  
Throwing him a small grin, “We can’t play tomorrow if you don’t get plenty of rest.”  
He watched the amber eyes fill with joy as Saguru nodded, “Good.” He walked towards Kaito, pausing at his side, “Then, see you tomorrow morning.” He finally started walking away from Kaito with a small wave over his shoulder “Goodnight, don’t forget!”  
Kaito returned the wave, “I won’t, Goodnight!” watching the boy until he safely made his way out of the forest before returning to his own village.


	3. Chapter 3

**October 4th「I know you didn’t ask for this.」**

After learning how to properly maintain a human form and meeting the human boy, Kaito continued advancing in his magical studies and strengthening his powers at a rather impressive rate. He now had seven lovely tails along with the appearance of a teenage human. And Kaito’s tails weren’t the only thing to have grown over these past ten sun cycles. His relationship with the human boy that had insisted on returning day after day to the forest in order to play and learn more about Kaito and his powers, had also become a big part of Kaito’s life.  
At first Kaito found it somewhat annoying, but was also curious to find out more about this human named Saguru. He did have fun with him and soon found himself looking forward to the boy’s arrival. As Kaito learned more about magic and grew his powers with his father, he learned more about the human world and grew his bond with Saguru.  
Today they were lounging on a warm rock overlooking the river Kaito had just pulled Saguru from when the human fell in trying to pick fruit from a branch that reached out over the river. The rock also provided a nice view of the setting sun as they let the soft breeze dry them off.  
“I know you didn’t ask for this.”  
Kaito turned towards Saguru, ears suddenly perked in attention, “What do you mean? Getting soaked having to save your scrawny skin, yet again?” He flicked his tails toward Saguru, flinging excess water at his face, “Little late to be thinking about that, I’m used to it now.”  
The damp head of blond locks shook, “That’s not what I mean. Well, yes that too, but I mean spending time with me for all these years seeing as I kind of forced you to be my friend since that night we first met.” He let out a sigh as he continued to gaze at the sunset, “I’m sorry for being such an annoyance, thanks for staying with me this long.”  
Kaito hummed in acknowledgement, studying the pretty way the setting sun lit up Saguru’s face with a soft light, “Don’t be.” He returned his attention to the sight of the setting sun, “If I really wanted to get rid of you, I could have a long time ago.”  
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Saguru suddenly turn his head to stare at him.  
Kaito shrugged, “I mean I’ve always been fascinated by humans and the things they do. So I was actually pretty excited to be able to get to know one.” He cast his gaze to the rushing river below, watching the way the sunlight reflected off the water’s surface like broken mirrors, “But as much as I tried to pretend I wasn’t, a small part of me was still afraid of what might happen if I started to trust a human and they decided to betray me.”  
That’s what happened to Aoko’s mother. A human she had helped had wanted her star marble because of the stories that obtaining one could grant humans great knowledge or power. So the greedy human deceived and led her into a trap so that they could kill her and steal her marble. It was why Aoko always had a fear of humans and the reason Kaito, even with his fascination, was wary of them, trying to at least keep a distance from humans when he observed them.  
But Saguru wasn’t like that rotten human at all. Like the sun that matched his golden hair, he may get annoyingly hot when he gets fired up with another wild idea of his, but Saguru was also a pleasant warmth of bathing in sunbeams; like on nights they would softly speak to each other about all kinds of things as they gaze at the stars from the steps of the shrine.  
Kaito turned back to give Saguru a wide grin, “But I really am happy to have met you. You’re one of my best friends.”  
Saguru’s eyes widened at the statement before his surprise melted into one of the warmest smiles Saguru had ever given him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here’s where i make my own mix of kumiho (Korean version of fox spirits) and kitsune lore of fox marbles and star balls; star marbles

**October 5th「I might just kiss you.」**

It was Saguru’s eighteenth birthday and Kaito was fidgeting with tails swishing back and forth as he excitedly awaited Saguru’s arrival at the shrine. When he finally spotted him walking up the steps Kaito ran forward, shoving a small box in Saguru’s face unable to wait any longer, “Happy Birthday Saguru!”  
He took the box waiting in front of his face, “Thank you Kaito, but you didn’t need to get me anything.”  
“I know, but I wanted to. Now open it already.” His tails swished in anticipation.  
Saguru chuckled at the display of excitement as he opened the box. Inside was a beautiful marble about the size of a hundred yen coin. It was deep blue and had glowing specks of red and white scattered about like stars.  
“Kaito. This is beautiful.” Saguru was captivated by the colour, it was the same blue as Kaito’s eyes and just as mesmerising. “Don’t tell me this is your—”  
“Yep it’s a star marble, made by yours truly.” Kaito gave him a proud grin. “I wanted to give you something special for your eighteenth birthday since it seems pretty special for humans.”  
“But I can't take this, it’s your star marble, doesn’t it contain your powers?”  
Kaito had to laugh at that, “It does have some of my power imbued in it since I’m the one that made it, but it isn’t the source of my powers like some human tales make it out to be. They’re more like powerful charms that can do different things depending on what the kitsune made them for. The tales that swallowing one can give a human great knowledge or power are from sense or strength enhancement charms. This one I made is a protective charm. I also added a handy feature that makes it much easier for me to find your location, all you gotta do is have it on you and pray for me to come.” Kaito gave him a pointed look, “I figured it would be a useful gift for someone that likes to get into as much trouble as you do.” The kitsune brought his tails in front of Saguru to tickle his cheek, “My powers are in my tails.” He withdrew the tails from Saguru’s face and another marble, the size of a pea, appeared in Kaito’s hand. This one wasn’t as deep of a blue and was dull without any specks of colour. “I can always make another one, see? I’ve already started this one.” He gave Saguru a fake stern look, “So you better appreciate that one since I slaved over it for five whole years.”  
Saguru stared back at Kaito in awe, “You worked on making this for that long?”  
Kaito gave him a shrug, “Yeah, but it was to be expected since it’s not easy collecting human energy. I would go into the village in my human form and gather small bits of energy from the humans I interacted with by stealing brief touches here and there. But the children that liked to play with me were a big help, always so full of energy, loved to tackle and climb on me. Especially the emotional energy they gave me when they would watch my magic shows.” Kaito tapped the star marble in Saguru’s hand, “That’s why it came out so pretty, the children gave it plenty of beautiful energy.” He threw Saguru a smirk, “Well, I guess there is a faster way, but that requires getting a little intimate.”  
Saguru’s response was to tilt his head ever so slightly, “Intimate how?”  
Katio’s smirk widened a bit as he stepped a little closer, “Intimate like prolonged physical touch, such as hugs; or kisses, the deeper, the better.”  
Saguru nodded in understanding seemingly unphased by Kaito’s close proximity, “I see. And I’m guessing that a willingly given kiss, with someone who has a strong emotional bond, like that of an eleven year friendship, would be even more efficient at creating a star marble?”  
Was Saguru maybe suggesting— no way, why would he. He must be joking and Kaito could kid around too, “Didn’t hanging around fairies teach you anything? Be careful of what you say. I might just kiss you.”  
Saguru didn’t even blink as he held his gaze, “That would be the point.”  
Wait. What? “W-why?”  
An amused smile slipped onto Saguru’s face upon hearing Kaito’s slight stutter, “Perhaps someone could use a reasoning enhancement charm, I’m offering my energy to help you make a star marble.”

**October 6th「Yes, I’m aware. Your point?」**

Saguru had always shown an interest in the various kitsune ways and magic, and he was always eager to help Kaito practice. But this wasn’t just any kind of practice, this was an intimate exchange between two people.  
Kaito’s ears turned backwards as he waved his hand in front of him, “Th-that’s okay! You really don’t need to help me with this.”  
It did nothing to deter Saguru once he got an idea, “I want to help repay you for this in some way. And this would be most efficient, let me help you make another star marble. Kiss me.”  
Did Saguru just say what he think he did? He was just, okay? with kissing Kaito and giving his energy, for the sake of making a star marble. Kaito loved how determined and serving Saguru liked to be but it was times like these that Saguru’s fiery passion just about gave him sunburn.  
“I’m not talking about a chaste kiss, I mean a full on, with tongue action, kiss in order to collect the energy.” Surely Saguru just didn’t quite understand what Kaito meant by a deep kiss.  
Saguru simply gave him a calm response, “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”  
Kaito’s mouth hung open in surprise “...uhhh. Well.”  
Saguru rolled his eyes and then gently took the small star marble out of Kaito’s hand, placing it in his still open mouth before stealing a kiss. And it was certainly deep enough to collect a decent amount of energy.


	5. Chapter 5

**October 7th「No, and that’s final.」**

It was nothing like Kaito imagined it would be like. Saguru was like an intense heat, burning him to his core, with his hands cupping Kaito’s face. But it didn’t burn in a bad way. It didn’t quite hurt, it was also like a gentle warmth, enveloping him like a hug. And then when Kaito was able to gather enough thoughts to respond to the kiss, that is when he really got a taste of the energy. It was sweet like the maroon berries he loved to eat. He could feel the energy start to flow through his veins like the warm chocolatey liquid, that Saguru had introduced to Kaito.  
When Kaito finally broke the kiss, taking the now bigger marble back into his mouth, because he felt so hot he was afraid he might start to melt, they gasped for breath. Who knows how long they were connected, he couldn’t tell.  
Saguru smirked at him, “That was— rather— interesting.” He said in between pants.  
Kaito slipped the marble into his pouch and could only nod as he was also busy panting, all too aware of the still too warm hands that lingered on his face. He was staring at the sight of Saguru’s flushed face, that seemed to be radiating enough to rival the morning sun’s glare, and the way the blond’s hair was tousled...how did that happen? Apparently Kaito’s hand had wandered up to mess with Saguru’s hair while they were kissing as he now found his hand resting at the base of the blond’s head while the other clung to Saguru’s shoulder.  
The next thing Kaito knew, Saguru’s hands fell off his face to grab onto his shoulders as he slumped into Kaito’s chest.  
“Woah there, you alright?” Kaito grabbed Saguru’s arms to keep him steady against him as he gently lowered them to a sitting position on the ground.  
Saguru kept leaning into Kaito’s chest and looked up at him with a sleepy look, “Sorry Kaito, I suddenly feel really tired...I think I’ll nap...for a bit…” Saguru trailed off as his eyes slid shut.  
This wasn’t normal. This was more than a moment of weak knees from an intense kiss.  
He took too much energy. Panic and worry started to seize Kaito as he began to wonder if he hurt Saguru, what if he fell ill. Would he die?  
Kaito quietly spoke to the sleeping face in a shaky voice, “Oi, Saguru. Oi, wake up.”  
His pitch slightly rose in hysteria, “Come on Saguru. Stay with me!”  
But Saguru continued to sleep in his arms.  
Kaito could barely think. The next thing he knew, he had carried Saguru back to his home where the human was currently living on his own. He lay Saguru on the twin sized bed in his bedroom and sat next to him. Kaito cast some magic to get a read on Saguru’s vitals. Good, they all seemed normal, he just seemed to be fatigued. Saguru just needed some rest.  
He’d been watching over Saguru as he slept for about two hours now. Was he supposed to wake up by now? Kaito started to worry even more, what if he didn’t wake up? What if he continued to remain in a deep sleep like a coma?  
Kaito was torn between wanting to run into the forest to get his father's help, and not wanting to leave Saguru’s side. Thankfully as he was debating with himself, Saguru began to wake up.  
“Saguru?”  
“Kaito? What happened?”  
“Thank goodness you’re alright.” Kaito gave him a guilty look with ears pressed flat against his head, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to take that much energy from you at once, especially since it was the first time.” He glared at his hands that curled into tight fists, “We’re lucky you’re only fatigued. I should have known better than to let it go that far! I could have seriously hurt you…”  
Saguru slowly sat up, shaking his head, “It’s not your fault.” He reached out to place a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, “I’m the one who kissed you and I was just as caught up in the intense pull of it as you were.”  
Kaito’s voice was solemn as he replied, “You don’t know as much about how this magic works, I should, that’s the point of my training. I shouldn’t have let you be put in danger due to my inexperience.”  
Saguru smiled with a tilt of his head, “Well now that we’ve tried it once, we could learn more about it by trying again.”  
Kaito’s head snapped up to glare, “No, and that’s final.” The gods know how many times in the past Kaito would tell Saguru no only for the human to insist until he gave in. But not this time. He wouldn’t.  
Saguru let out a small laugh, “Sorry, I’m just joking. No need to look so terrified.” Offering him a more apologetic smile, “I worry about you too, I don’t want you to be scared or get hurt, especially because of me.”  
Kaito didn’t look as terrified now but there was still a lingering worry he couldn’t seem to shake.  
Saguru grabbed Kaito’s hands that were still clenched to gently work them open, “I understand how you feel. So how about we both agree that we were both being foolish, getting caught up in the power of the kiss and made a little mistake. No harm done. We’ve learned and can move on without worry because now we know better. Alright?” He had worked Kaito’s hands open and slipped his fingers in between Kaito’s to give a comforting squeeze.  
Kaito closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh as his ears turned into a relaxed position, “Alright. I think I can do that.” Kaito opened his eyes to give Saguru a small smile and returned the comforting squeeze.

**October 8th「Can you stay?」**

Kaito slipped his hands out of Saguru’s hold and swept the blond bangs off his forehead to check his temperature.  
“Good, you don’t have a fever. Looks like you just need to get some sleep.” He stood up from the bed and quickly fetched a glass of water that he set on the small table next to the bed, “Make sure to drink that and stay hydrated. You have the star marble I made you, right?”  
Saguru nodded, pulling the beautiful ball of blue out of his pocket.  
“Use that to call for me if you start feeling worse or need anything.” Kaito gave a curt nod, “So then I’ll leave you to rest now. See you later.” Kaito turned away to leave when a hand gently grabbed his, turning his attention back to Saguru.  
“Can you stay?” Saguru was looking up at him with his adorable hopeful face.  
Kaito couldn’t possibly say no.

They spent the rest of the day laying in the bed barely big enough for both of them, switching between, dozing and quietly chatting as they softly stroked each other’s hands for comfort and played with each other’s hair. Saguru even got to pet Kaito’s ears and tails. They were as fluffy as they looked and it turned out Saguru was pretty good at petting.  
Come afternoon, Saguru’s stomach decided to declare it was time to eat. It was nice that they didn’t have to leave the warm bed to get food since Kaito drew out of his purple pouch, some nutritional bread made with a touch of magic to help restore strength, and delicious berries that you could on rare occasions find in the forest but were plentiful in the spirit forest. The bread was dense and had a subtle sweetness to it that went well with the juicy sweet and sour of the berries.  
“Who knew all it took was a kiss to score a dinner date with you. Although it might be a little unusual to kiss before the date.” Saguru commented with an amused smile as they sat in bed enjoying the food.  
Kaito’s ears perked up at that, “This isn’t a date, we’ve eaten together plenty of times in the past!” Despite what his words may try to imply, his tails started to slightly move in a slow wag behind him.  
Saguru nudged Kaito with an elbow, “But not while sitting so closely; and after spending all morning laying in bed together,” He reached over to scratch at one of Kaito’s ears, “_while_ I get to pet your ears and tails.”  
He lightly bat Saguru’s hand away, “You talk too much, just eat your food, you need the energy.” Kaito turned his head away trying to hide the blush that almost matched the red of the berries he threw into his mouth.  
“This is the best birthday of my life, thanks Kaito.” Saguru was giving Kaito a fond smile.  
Turning back at the words, Kaito swallowed his mouthful of berries and after a moment dropped his pout to return the smile.

**October 9th「There is a certain taste to it.」**

After eating, they decided to return to lazing in bed together. Now that Kaito’s fears of Saguru being harmed had passed. With them now safe and relaxing in Saguru’s bed, Kaito had time to remember the more enjoyable parts of the kissing experience. And he began to wonder about something, “Why did you seem to enjoy kissing me so much anyway? I would think getting your energy drained would feel uncomfortable.”  
One of Kaito’s hands rest in blond locks, slowly rubbing Saguru’s head with his fingertips, using small circular motions.  
Saguru leaned into the touch with his eyes closed, as he took a moment to think, “It did feel odd, but it wasn’t really uncomfortable...it was just a little intense and while my body does feel a bit tired, it’s a good tired like after spending a day running around playing.” Saguru’s hands held Kaito’s other hand, using his thumbs to gently massage the beautiful muscles that were capable of creating joy with the delightful magic they could produce, “It was also enjoyable because of, how do I describe it?” Kaito watched as Saguru’s tongue slowly licked his lips in thought trying to remember in order to describe it, “There is a certain taste to it.” He opened his eyes with a small spark of wonder, “I would almost describe it as magical.”  
Kaito’s tails started wagging, “Oh~ Magical you say? Good to know I’m a good kisser.”  
“While it’s true, you are a good kisser, that’s not what I mean.”  
Kaito’s tails immediately ceased their teasing wag, not expecting Saguru to be able to just admit so easily to Kaito being a good kisser, without a blush like the one Kaito suddenly found himself fighting off.  
“If I were to try to describe how magic tastes, if it even had one, I would say it would be that sweet warmth. I could feel the energy flowing, and it didn’t really feel that draining, more like I was releasing a breath. And it felt great. Almost like I could fall into an addiction.”  
So that kiss was as enjoyable for Saguru as it had been for Kaito. That was good to know.  
The last of the sunlight was fading away now.  
Kaito slowly sat up, “As much as I enjoy spending the day with you, I really should be heading back now.”  
Saguru stay laying and buried his face into Kaito’s tails, grumbling, “But I don’t want you to go.” After a moment, he slowly sat up, facing Kaito with a sigh, “But I suppose even the best of birthdays must come to an end.”  
Kaito smiled fondly at Saguru’s pouting face, “Happy Birthday Saguru.”  
It was a shame to lose the sight of Saguru’s adorable pout, but the beautiful smile he gave Kaito was worth it.  
“See you tomorrow Saguru.”  
“See you tomorrow Kaito.”  
Although they were both reluctant about Kaito leaving, the promise of tomorrow kept them smiling through the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**October 10th「Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me.」**

The next morning Kaito went to Saguru’s house a little before the time they would usually meet at the shrine. He didn’t want Saguru to be making the trip up the steps to the shrine if he hadn’t fully recovered yet. Thankfully Saguru was well rested and full of energy again without any sign of ill side effects.  
“How do you feel about taking a trip to the spirit forest today?”  
When Kaito had earned his fifth tail, he knew enough about magic to start teaching Saguru some basic spells since the human had an affinity for the spirit world and the blessing of fairies. As long as Saguru was with Katio, they would on some occasions enter the edges of the spirit forest to easier tap into magic for Saguru to learn and practise.  
Saguru’s eyes lit up with excitement, he’d always been fascinated by the spirit forest and enjoyed their trips there. “You know I’m always up for visiting the spirit forest.”  
When they entered the spirit forest, Kaito led him to a patch of the sweet yet sour maroon berries. “Start picking some berries, today I’m going to teach you potion making!”  
Saguru eagerly got to work. They even had some fun tossing a few berries at each other in an attempt to catch them with their mouths.  
Once they had gathered enough, Kaito pulled a small cauldron out of his pouch, “As you might have figured out by now, I love theses berries” He rolled a few in between this lithe fingers, “But it’s not just their delicious taste, they’re also great for replenishing energy which is very useful if you use magic.”  
He waved his hands with a flourish over the cauldron and it was filled with the berries they collected. They lit a small fire and placed the cauldron over it. Kaito had Saguru use the basic water magic he taught him to add water to the cauldron —one calls upon water spirits to ask for them to provide and shape the water in the way you imagine, the greater the task, the greater energy is required as fair trade— then he taught Saguru the words for a basic enhancement spell, bringing out the energy replenishing properties of the berries.  
Once the potion had cooled, they poured it into the glass bottles Kaito pulled from his pouch.  
“There we go, four energy recovery potions” Kaito stored the cauldron away in his pouch.  
Saguru held one of the potions staring at the pretty crimson colour, “Wow. Do you think you could teach me how to make other kinds of potions as well?”  
Kaito grinned, amused that Saguru never seemed to tire of learning more, always craving more knowledge. “I think we should take it one potion lesson at a time and not get carried away just yet, but you can definitely look forward to—” A sudden chill down his spine made Kaito stop mid sentence with his ears and tails raised in apprehension.  
“Kaito?” Saguru was unsure why Kaito had— then he felt a heavy feeling, “What is that?” He didn’t like this, he’s felt this a few times in the past and it never bode well. Saguru shivered as he recalled one time when this feeling led to Katio being—  
Kaito grabbed one of Saguru’s hands, “Quick come with me.” and took off in a run. It was a good thing Saguru was used to chasing after Kaito, allowing him to easily keep up.  
“Where are we going?!”  
“We need to get to a mirror pool, luckily there’s one nearby!”  
They burst into a small clearing and there lay a small blue pool about the size of a four tatami mat room.  
Kaito released Saguru’s hand to kneel at the water and held his hands above it as he closed his eyes in concentration and muttered a few words. The pool of water started to glow a light purple and their reflections disappeared, they could only see the glowing water.  
Katio stood and turned to Saguru, “Now we’re going to jump into the water.”  
“What? Why?” Saguru didn’t want to get soaked with his clothes on. He’d already accidentally done that enough times. “Kaito, what’s wrong? What was that feeling back there?”  
“Listen, I can’t explain it, we don’t have time right now, you’ll have to trust me.” Kaito reached out to hold one of Saguru’s hands, “Please.”  
Saguru paused his confusion and apprehension to give a curt nod, “Alright, I trust you.”  
They turned back towards the pool of purple water, Kaito firmly tightened his hold on Saguru’s hand, “Make sure to take a deep breath and hold it. I’ll count to three and then we jump, okay?”  
Saguru returned the grip, “Got it.”  
“Ready? One, two, three, jump!”  
The water wasn’t completely freezing but still cool enough to provide a brief shock to the senses as they submerged. They held onto their breath as they sunk into the pool’s depths. Then there was a feeling that Saguru could best describe as, warm ribbons wrapping around them. It felt similar to the flow of energy he experienced during the kiss he shared with Kaito, except it wasn’t being drawn from him, it was simply moving around them. Then they were suddenly being flipped? Saguru wasn’t sure as he lost all sense of direction and managed to stay calm thanks to the comforting grip of Kaito’s hand.  
Then the nearly dizzying motion stopped and they stood on firm ground again, surprisingly dry. Saguru opened his eyes that he didn’t realise he shut at some point, to find they were standing in a hall like cavern full of round shimmering images.  
He had a couple seconds to look around before Kaito was already leading them down the hall searching through the images, “These are the views from other mirror pools scattered throughout the spirit forest, we use them to travel and communicate quickly.”  
Kaito seemed to find the image he was looking for and they stopped in front of it. There were two rectangular pedestals that looked about as tall as his chest level with symbols he didn’t recognise carved into their sides. Copper bowl braziers sat on top of the stone pedestals with bright blue flames. The large torches sat on either side of a dirt path that lead to a warm looking village.  
“We’re about to enter the spirit village. Some youkai won’t take too kindly to a human entering, but since you’re with me and this is urgent, we should be okay.” Kaito turned to directly face Saguru to convey the importance, “Just don’t leave my side, no matter what okay?”  
Saguru gave their still clasped hands a squeeze, “I won’t leave your side, promise.”  
Kaito threw him a grin, “Ready?”  
They stepped into the shimmering image.


	7. Chapter 7

**October 11th「It’s not always like this.」**

Needless to say, the youkai were surprised to see a human in their village. Some youkai seem curious to see him, some look amused to see the two, some throw him disgusted looks, but none actually approach them as Kaito leads Saguru, with a determined look and tails poised almost regal like, through the village to a nice two story cottage, with a tall stone tower attached at the back, located in the center of the village.  
Kaito didn’t let go of Saguru’s hand until they stood before the cottage’s door.  
“Welcome to my home.” Kaito pushed open the door and beckoned Saguru inside.  
“I’m home!” Kaito slipped out of his shoes, leaving them out at the doorway as he headed towards the direction a wonderful smell was coming from; Saguru followed, quickly doing the same.  
A beautiful woman with reddish brown hair, poked her head out of the room the smell was emanating from, “Welcome home Kaito!” she placed the (was that partially smoking?) apron she’d been wearing, on a rack full of aprons (some of which did have some charring) and wrapped Kaito in a big hug when he entered what looked to be a kitchen. She was also a black kitsune, with nine tails and white facial markings; she must be Kaito’s mother.  
She leaned back holding Kaito by the shoulders at arm’s length, “You felt that nasty presence right? Your father is in the study upstairs.” The woman then turned her attention to Saguru still lingering in the doorway, hesitant to enter the kitchen.  
“Oh~ Is this the human you’ve taken a liking to?” She had suddenly moved the two metres around Kaito and across the kitchen, standing in front of Saguru who took a half step back in surprise. “His hair is so lovely like sunlight. Can I pet him?”  
Saguru had seen Kaito’s embarrassment in many forms but this was a new one and it looked just as adorable as his others, “Momー He’s not my pet, you need to ask _him_ that.”  
She glanced back at her son, “Oh indeed, you’ve grown into such a gentleman Kaito, I’m so proud of you.” She turned back to Saguru and he suddenly saw where Kaito got his warm smile from, “Pardon my rudeness, my name is Chikage.”  
Saguru would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little nervous to be meeting Kaito’s mother, going into his defensive ‘polite mode’, he took a step back with a low bow, “Nice to meet you Onee-sama. My name is Saguru.” He straightened up, giving her a friendly smile.  
“My, not just pretty but so polite too~ You’ve got my impeccable tastes Kaito.”  
“Momー!”  
She paid no mind to Kaito’s whine, “Please just call me Chikage. May I pet your lovely hair?”  
He didn’t want to say no to Kaito’s mother, but she also made it easy to say yes since she felt so welcoming and had actually asked for his permission unlike most people who were fascinated with his unusual hair colour. “Please feel free to Chikage-san.” Saguru dipped his head making it easier to reach his hair.  
As warm hands immediately started running their fingers through his hair, Saguru saw Kaito giving him an apologetic look. Saguru sent him a reassuring smile indicating he didn’t mind.  
“How wonderful, it’s as soft as it looks.” Chikage-san’s tails wagged in contentment. Saguru also noticed Kaito’s tails slightly twitch and looked at his face to find something else subtly mixing into the embarrassment. Was that— was Kaito, jealous?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind and Kaito was suddenly pulling Saguru by the arm away from Chikage-san’s hands and out the kitchen, “Okay you’ve pet him enough, we need to see dad.”  
She leaned out the kitchen doorway, “Nice to meet you Saguru!”  
He politely nodded just before he was pulled around the corner and led up the stairs.  
Kaito opened the door to what must have been the study room Chikage-san had mentioned.  
Inside were tall bookshelves lining the white walls, an ornate wooden desk, a dark red Queen Anne style sofa, and dark green carpet. Saguru also saw someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.

When Aoko first heard that Kaito had continued to see the human after that night, she had been worried. But Kaito convinced her to meet Saguru herself and after being around him a few times, Aoko quickly warmed up to him. But she still didn’t feel comfortable leaving the spirit forest, so she didn’t play with them often.

Her wild brown hair had grown to match her now taller appearance and the blue facial markings matched her sapphire blue eyes which were as bright as he remembered. She now had six snowy white tails that flicked with her ears at the sound of them entering the study.  
“Saguru-kun!” Aoko-san glomped onto him, wrapping her arms around his torso.  
He returned her hug embracing her smaller frame and smiled warmly, “It’s nice to see you Aoko-san.”  
She hopped back with a swish of her tails and ears drooped in embarrassment, “Sorry, I got a little excited since it’s been a while.”  
Saguru shook his head, “Don’t be, I’ve missed you too.”  
“Welcome home Kaito.” A smooth deep voice made him look up to see another nine tailed black kitsune with amethyst facial markings. The regal colour matched the man’s regal air as he sat at the desk smiling at them.  
“Hey dad.” Kaito gestured to Saguru, “This is my friend Saguru, Saguru this is my old man.”  
Saguru gave another low bow, “Nice to meet you Oji-sama.”  
The man nodded back, “A pleasure to meet the human that has captured so much of my son’s attention. Please call me Touichi.” He then stood from his desk, “I’m glad you came so quickly, I need to show you something.” Touichi-san picked up a couple of papers from his desk, handing them to his son.  
Kaito read over them, “Is this—” He looked up at his father, “I could tell from the evil energies that it was bad, but to require something this powerful? It’s not a demon is it?”  
Touichi-san gave him a solemn look, “It is. We need to go to the place where it’s sealed. I’m afraid the seal is wearing thin.”  
Touichi-san placed a hand on Aoko-san’s shoulder, “While we are gone. Can I continue to rely on you to stay here and search for a stronger seal?”  
She gave a determined nod, “Of course Oji-chan!”  
He turned towards the door, “Come Kaito, Saguru, we must hurry.”  
Aoko-san called to them as they left, “Come back safely!”  
Kaito threw her a confident smile, “Don’t worry Aoko, we’ve got this!”

They followed Touichi-san back to the mirror pool at the village entrance. The second trip was much easier now that Saguru knew what to expect.  
The closer they got to their destination, the heavier the dark presence felt.  
Soon they stood before a clearing that was a perfect circle void of any vegetation, only dirt, about ten metres in diameter. A huge Japanese Zelkova tree sat in the center. Its gnarled base was about three metres wide and its bark looked to be stained black.  
Touichi knelt at the edge of the clearing, “It’s not always like this.” He brushed a hand against the dying grass that lined the circle, “The seal is starting to break and the toxic energy is slowly seeping out, poisoning the forest around it.”  
“There must be something we can do to stop it.” Kaito stared down the tree with ears and tails raised in caution.  
Touichi-san stood back up, “There is, which is what I have Aoko searching for in the study. For now we need to help place a calming charm and another seal in order to delay the demon’s break out and give us more time to prepare for completely resealing it when it does break out.” He turned to Kaito, placing a hand on one shoulder, “This is one of the things I’ve been training you for. I was hoping this wouldn’t happen but knew there was a possibility that the seal would someday weaken, and in order to stop this demon, I need your help Kaito.”  
Kaito smirked at his father, ready for the challenge, “What do you need me to do?”  
Touichi-san returned the smirk, “That’s my son.” He drew out some long rectangular pieces of paper with handwritten ink symbols on them. “Take these talismans, we’ll be doing the hamayumi formation seal.”  
Kaito took the talismans with a nod and got to work placing them about the circle and drawing in the dirt with black ink he pulled from his pouch.  
Touichi-san then turned to Saguru, “And may I ask you for your assistance as well?”  
Of course Saguru wanted to help; he loved the spirit forest and the youkai he’s met, “Of course Touichi-san, what can I do?”  
“From my understanding, Kaito has been teaching you the basics of magic. What we need to do is borrow some of your energy to make this seal more effective.” He handed Saguru another talisman, “Can you concentrate on this talisman to open up to us and allow your energy to flow and entwine with the seal?”  
Saguru nodded in understanding.  
The black kitsunes finished drawing the diagram and placing the talismans. They all stood in position around the circle.  
“Ready boys?”  
“You bet!”  
“Yes Touichi-san!”  
Father and son shared matching smiles full of confidence, saying in unison, “It’s showtime!”

**October 12th「What if I don’t see it?」**

Saguru can feel his energy flowing as the kitsune weave it into the seal. It seems to be working and is nearly complete. Suddenly, despite having his eyes closed, Saguru starts to see something— no not quite seeing, not physically, but sensing another energy; full of memories that start to unfold in his mind...


	8. Chapter 8

Long ago, before there was a demon, there was a lonely youkai that loved to watch the humans but rarely approached them since they were scared of its ‘monster-like’ appearance so it kept to the forest to watch from afar.  
One day a little boy from the nearby village wandered in and got lost, he wandered in so deep he managed to come across the entrance to the spirit forest and surprisingly was able to cross through the boundary. It was rare but some humans had a naturally strong spiritual power. The sun had begun to set and the boy seemed no closer to finding his way home. So the youkai shroud itself and approached the boy to guide him home. The boy was fascinated by meeting a stranger and asked for a name, giving the youkai his own. The boy happily left the forest that night with the knowledge of a new name.  
The human surprised the youkai when he returned to the forest the next day calling out its name. It seemed that the human now considered them friends and wanted to play. So happy that there was a human that wanted to see it again, it agreed, forgetting the fear that its ‘monstrous’ face might be discovered. Then to the youkai’s delight, the human didn’t bore of it and kept returning nearly everyday to play and this continued for many sun cycles.  
The human looked to be a young adult now and couldn’t visit as often but still came when they could, enjoying the youkai’s company. One day he asked, “What do you look like under that shawl you always wear?”  
The youkai was immediately reminded of all the terrified faces of humans from before who ran, scared of its face, “I— I have some nasty scars that I don’t like others to see.”  
“Oh come on,” The human rolled his eyes, “I’ve been playing with you for years, you really think I wouldn’t have noticed by now that you’re some kind of youkai?”  
The youkai turned to the human in surprise.  
“Don’t give me that surprised look; and yes I can tell despite not being able to actually see your face; I’m no fool, and of course a youkai wouldn’t look exactly like a human but it’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, I could tell the day you helped this lost little boy out of the forest. And an ugly face won’t change that.”  
But the thought of the scared and angry faces with their shouts of ‘monster’ made the youkai hesitate, “There’s no need for you to see my face, we’re fine the way we are.”  
It didn’t take long for the human to get what he wanted, as usual.  
The human blankly stared at the finally exposed face of the youkai.  
The youkai nervously sat there until it couldn’t take it anymore, squeezing its eyes shut, not wanting to see the moment the fear and disgust appeared, “It’s okay to say it. I look like a monster don’t I?”  
“What if I don’t see it?”  
“You don’t see it?” The youkai’s eyes opened to find one of the fondest smiles it had ever seen, being directed at it.  
“What if I don’t see a monster? All I can see is the beautiful person who has been protecting and playing with me all these years.”

**October 13th「I never knew it could be this way.」**

Having spent so much time with the youkai in the spirit forest, the human had fallen in love with the youkai and its beautiful world.  
“I never knew it could be this way.”  
The youkai looked at its human companion, “What do you mean?”  
“I never knew the world could be so beautiful,” He turned to the youkai with a bright smile, “Until I met you.”  
After once again convincing the youkai, they decide to hold a powerful ritual which would allow the human to bond to the youkai, entwining the life energies of the two so that the human may live a long life with the youkai in the spirit world.  
This ritual required the night of the full moon when the human and spirit world are closest to be able to form the bond.

Unfortunately there was another human, the kind that youkai refer to as a slayer. There are exorcists, that seal and exorcise youkai that are malicious towards humans; and then there are some exorcists that don’t just seal or exorcise, they break apart and consume the energy of the youkai in order to gain temporary heightened senses and strength. They typically don’t care to distinguish between malicious or benevolent youkai, consuming all in order to feed their addictive hunger for collecting power and becoming stronger. Being an experienced slayer, they were aware of the difficulties of performing such a powerful ritual. They knew of the handful of minutes in which the bond must be maintained in order for it to be successful and to break it off early would most likely result in both parties being severely injured or killed. And the slayer saw this as the perfect opportunity to consume the energy of a powerful youkai. In order to successfully break into the ritual, the slayer rallied some humans of the village to hunt down this so called monster that, “Lured a poor human into the forest to eat them!”  
When the human mob led by the slayer, burst into the ritual, distracting the other youkai present, the slayer killed the kind youkai who was helpless to defend or run away, being caught in the middle of the bonding ritual. However it didn’t all go according to the slayer’s terrible plan, the human who was still in the middle of the bonding, was more powerful than expected and consumed the energy of the youkai he loved for himself, breaking out of the interrupted bond with barely a scratch. Fueled by all his emotions of distraught, sorrow, pain, and anger, so much anger, he killed the slayer. All the emotions and leftover energy of the unfinished ritual began consuming what was left of the human and youkai, turning them into a demon.  
That was when a black nine tailed kitsune that looked like a man in his thirties, appeared and although the shadows and angle hid his face, a smirk was visible. It reminded Saguru of the expression Kaito sometimes got when taking on a challenge. The kitsune told everyone to run away, while he took care of the demon. The last thing the demon saw before it was sealed away, was the sad regretful smile of the kitsune, granting them a moment of peace before they were completely consumed.


	9. Chapter 9

When the last of the memories stop playing, Saguru opened his eyes to find himself looking up at Kaito’s concerned face. He was laying on the ground with his head held in Kaito’s lap.  
“Saguru? Are you alright? Why are you crying? That wasn’t too much was it? Do you feel tired? I have the energy potions here.” Now that Kaito mentioned it, he rubbed his eyes to find there were some tears and still felt the lingering sorrow and pain from the memories.  
Touichi-san placed a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, “Calm down Kaito, we were careful to control the amount of energy we drew so as not to harm Saguru. He was only unconscious for a minute and just woke up, give him a moment.”  
“I feel fine, not tired at all.” He sat up, “But did either of you see that? I think I saw the memories of the demon.” He wiped away the last of his tears, “Or rather, the memories of the human and youkai it used to be…”  
“Yes, we did. Sometimes when sealing or exorcising a youkai, its memories can be seen. And sometimes the emotions and residual energy are powerful enough to overwhelm, which was why you fell unconscious for a minute, especially since it was your first time experiencing this.”  
Saguru looked at Touichi-san, “There was a black kitsune that sealed the demon the first time, was that you?”  
“Yes, I was the one who sealed the demon away before. I was just in time to catch it in a moment of weakness before it could begin using its full strength, having just been transformed.” He turned his gaze towards the tree, “But now that it has managed to finally gather enough strength, it’s breaking out of the seal. And I don’t think I have enough power to fight a demon that’s at full strength, at least not this one.” Touichi-san looked back at his son, “That is why I need your help Kaito. It’ll take the both of us to fight this demon.”  
Kaito returned his father’s gaze, with a smirk “With us working together? I’m sure we’ll be able to defeat it.” But the expression and words seemed a little off, like Kaito was forcing it.  
And Touichi-san must have noticed it too, as he looked at Kaito with concern for a brief second, before giving him a kind smile, “Indeed.” He helped Saguru stand up, “After the recent turn of events, we should get you home for today Saguru.”

**October 14th「I can’t come back.」**

While his father returned home to continue researching the documents in the study with Aoko, Kaito walked Saguru all the way back to his house. They were standing at Saguru’s front door now.  
Saguru always seemed to notice when something was on his mind, Kaito couldn’t seem to hide much from the clever human, “Kaito? What is it? You’ve been worried about something since we placed the seal on the demon.” He studied Kaito’s face with concerned curiosity, “Are you still worried about me collapsing?” He gently took one of Kaito’s hands, “I assure you, I’m fine. You should get back to your family, we can see each other again tomorrow.” Saguru placed a kiss on Kaito’s fingers.  
But Kaito could only wince at those last words as he finally got out his own, “I can’t come back.”  
The memories he saw from the demon, the former human and youkai; the intense feelings that were rooted in those memories, especially those as a result of the tragic fate they shared. It harshly reminded Kaito of the underlying fears of his that he’s been trying to ignore in favour of enjoying Saguru’s company.  
Saguru’s smile disappeared as he suddenly looked a bit scared himself, “What? Kaito what are you talking about?”  
“You saw those memories and felt those feelings. This is dangerous, that demon will do everything in its power to destroy humans. One or both of us could be killed.” Kaito wrenched away his hand that was still held in Saguru’s who he had slowly tightened his grip as Kaito spoke.  
“I can’t let you come with me. You’ll be in danger.” He didn’t provide any further reasons, not wanting to say out loud the rest of his fears.  
“You’re wrong.” Saguru was staring him down with those intense amber eyes of his, “You don’t have to do this Kaito.”

**October 15th「That’s what I’m talking about!」**

He could already feel the lie he really didn’t believe himself, fall out of his mouth, “I need to protect you— “  
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Saguru shouted, interrupting Kaito, “You’ve always been the one protecting me! You’re always coming to my rescue when I get into trouble. But you won’t let me help you.” Saguru reached forward to grab at Kaito’s right arm and shoved up the sleeve to reveal the faint scar that ran down the length of his forearm, “I still have nightmares about the day you got this...and they always vary because I still don’t know what happened. But they all end up with you bleeding and getting eaten by an evil youkai.” Saguru’s grip had begun to shake, “Do you remember, you had four tails and I was thirteen. I hadn’t been sleeping well for about a week and you noticed, asking me what was wrong, so I told you about this heavy presence that had started appearing and wandering around the village at night, leaving by morning. Since it appeared, the people had seemed more tired than rested come morning. As soon as I told you, you ran off with some excuse about suddenly remembering you promised to help your father with something. Even though I suddenly had a terrible feeling, I could only stumble after you for a few metres as I watched you run further and further away.” Saguru spoke with a scared waver to his voice, “Then you didn’t show up at the shrine the next day. And when I finally saw you the day after, you had a bandage wrapped around your entire arm and a stupid grin as if everything was okay. I wanted to yell at you for disappearing on me and demand answers, but was too relieved to do anything besides hug you.”  
Saguru took a deep breath, continuing in a steadier voice, “Even though you told me it was just a nasty fall and that it barely hurt anymore, I noticed the subtle winces you tried to hide and the odd discolouration and swelling indicative of poisoning, when I insisted on helping you change the bandage. Then that night I realised the heavy presence didn’t show up.” His grip on Kaito’s arm slightly tightened in frustration, “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to force you to talk about it until you were ready but you never did. And by the time I realised you never would, I was too scared to ask, afraid you might finally decide you’ve had enough of me and really leave.”  
Saguru released Kaito’s arm to hold his hands, “That day at the river, when you told me you were actually happy to have met me and that I’m one of your best friends, it was one of the happiest days of my life. And I swore that from then on, I won’t let you deal with danger by yourself anymore.” Saguru suddenly wrapped Kaito in his arms, hugging him close, “I want to help you because you’re my best friend. I love you. And I hate seeing you hurt. I don’t want to even think about the possibility of never being able to see you again.”  
And that was Kaito’s problem wasn’t it? The possibility that he will never be able to see Saguru again. He also wanted to protect Saguru, but that was actually a lie, wasn't it? What he was trying to ultimately do right now was protect himself. He was trying to protect himself from the pain of losing Saguru, that he knew was very probable if he continued to stay with a human whose lifespan was shorter than a youkai’s.  
Saguru seemed to be able to tell what Kaito was thinking, leaning back slightly to look at him face to face, “Don’t let the fear of pain stop you from grabbing the happiness right in front of you.” Saguru’s eyes were begging Kaito.

But Kaito was a coward, it’s why he tried to act so confident and trained to become one of the best magicians, to cover up how scared and unsure he was. Kaito wasn’t the brave one. It had always been Saguru. When he was with Saguru, who was so brave and determined to do the crazy things he set out to do, Kaito had been able to follow the mesmerising human.  
But he couldn’t follow him this time. It was too much. The thought of— it was too scary.  
So ironic that his solution to the possibility of never seeing Saguru again, was to remove the possibility and make it happen already. It couldn’t hurt him even more later on if he cut it off now. How pathetic.  
Kaito could only whisper back, “I’m sorry.” as he slipped out of Saguru’s hold.  
And then Kaito ran away.  
And for once, Saguru didn’t try to chase after him; he couldn’t, not after seeing Kaito meant it this time.


	10. Chapter 10

**October 16th「Listen. No, really listen.」**

Kaito didn’t stop running until he was back in the spirit village, standing in front of his own home where he finally paused to catch his breath and took a moment to compose himself before he joined his father and Aoko in the study.  
Maybe he wasn’t as good at acting calm as he thought, Aoko seemed to notice something when she looked up from where she sat in one corner, surrounded by books, “Welcome back— what’s wrong? You look a little down.” She tilted her head to look behind him, “Where’s Saguru-kun?”  
Kaito took a seat on the other side of the small pile of books, picking one up, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Saguru just fainted for a moment, a bit overwhelmed from experiencing a sealing and demon energy for the first time, so I took him home to rest.”  
“Are you sure that’s all?” Aoko peered over the pile of books at him, “It’s okay if you’re worried about him and want to stay by his side right now. You can leave this to us!” She sent him a reassuring smile.  
A deep voice spoke up from where he sat at the desk, looking through one of the books, “Could it be that when you took him home, you told Saguru you can never see him again before running away?”  
That shrewd old man!  
His friend since forever gasped, “_Kaito_! Is that true!?”  
He failed to hide his wince at the questions and sapphire blue eyes narrowed at him before he could claim otherwise. Aaand here they go.  
“Aoko knows Kaito can be such a scaredy kit sometimes but this is ridiculous!” She lowered the book she was holding to focus on Kaito with tails raised, ready to fight.  
“I’m not just running away. It’s safer for him to stay away while we fight the demon.” He brought the book he was currently combing through, up to his face.  
“Stop lying Bakaito! I know you really do care about Saguru and you want to protect him but by running away you’re not really protecting him, you’re trying to protect yourself from the pain of saying goodbye!” Aoko calmed down to continue in a gentler tone, “You’re just scared and letting your fears get in the way of what you really want to do; staying by Saguru-kun’s side and making sure nothing can hurt him.”  
Kaito flinched, burying his face further into the book. Did everyone suddenly receive a ‘guide to Kaito’s fears’ today?  
“Listen. No, really listen.” Aoko moved to sit in front of Kaito and pulled the book away from his face when he tried to turn away and ignore her, “I’ve known you since we were kits Kaito. I know you. And I can tell you’re not happy doing this.” Kaito kept his head lowered, and she gave him a light punch to the shoulder, “Even your emotionally dense brain should be able to see it’s going to leave both of you with a nasty emotional scar if you continue down this path.” Aoko took the book from Kaito’s hands, placing it on the pile next to them so that she could take his hands in her own, “You’ve always thought you need to take care of things yourself, but that’s not true.” She began to soothingly stroke his hands, “You have both your parents, you have Jii-chan, you have me. Practically the whole village loves you— most of the time. Even that beautiful red witch that lives in the eastern part of the forest would help you if you asked her.” Aoko giggled at a memory, “She’s much kinder than she tries to act and can actually be quite cute when she gets flustered, trying to deny being nice.” She gently squeezed his hands, “And most importantly, you have Saguru-kun.”  
Kaito finally raised his head to look at Aoko.  
“Oh don’t give me that surprised look. Anyone who has seen you guys together for five seconds can tell how much you love each other. Yes Aoko is still uncomfortable around humans but Saguru-kun is too kind and puppy looking to be scary. I just used him being a human and not wanting to go into the human world, as an excuse to let you guys be alone because it kept getting awkward for me to be there while you two got along so well together, almost in your own world.” She paused to bring a hand up to her forehead in exasperation at the memory, “And then it just became unbearable when you two started to flirt, whether you were aware of it or not.” She shook her head, ”But that’s not the point.” Aoko brought up a hand to gently cup Kaito’s face, forcing him to stay focused on her and her words, “My point is, it’s okay to choose the other solution. Even if you're scared by how much easier it looks.” She offered him a comforting smile.  
It was okay for him to rely on them for help? He didn’t have to do it all on his own? It did sound pretty silly now that he thought about it. Aoko was right, she usually was. It’s one of the things he loves about her, she usually gives Kaito good advice whether he asks for it or not, especially when he doesn’t ask for it, which is probably when he needs it most.  
He started to loudly laugh in relief, “You’re right Aoko, I _am_ an idiot huh?”  
Aoko’s eyes lit up at his laugh and words, “Of course! I’m always right and you’ve always been an idiot, took you long enough to realise.”  
Kaito leaned forward to hug his best friend, “Thank you Aoko, I really did need to have some sense talked into me. You’re the best.”  
She eagerly returned the hug, “You’re welcome Kaito, I want you to be happy. I love you.”  
He buried his face deeper into her wild hair, “I love you too.”

**October 17th「There is just something about them/her/him.」**

At some point during their conversation, Kaito’s father had snuck out of the study, leaving them alone together. After their hug, they got back to searching the books for a seal they could use.  
As they continued their search, Aoko casually spoke up, “So~ What do you like about him?”  
Kaito looked up at her, “Haa?”  
She rolled her eyes, “You know who I’m talking about, Saguru-kun!” She looked up from the book at him, “And I know you probably want to answer ‘everything’ but come on~ Aoko wants to hear all the cute gooey stuff; feed a friend’s craving for adorable relationships!” Aoko was suddenly excitedly holding onto Kaito’s arm as her six snowy tails swished in anticipation.  
Kaito was starting to blush, “I thought you said we were unbearable? A-and why should I tell you!?”  
“You’re unbearable to be around but it’s still fun to hear about. So come on, tell your best friend~”  
Swallowing, Kaito got his blush under control, “Uhh...Saguru is…” Aoko was right, he did just kind of like everything about Saguru. But if he tried to list the different things about him, “pretty. He’s so pretty. No wonder the fairies took a liking to him.”  
Aoko laughed, “Well normally I’d tease you for liking a human, but even Aoko has to admit, he is rather good looking for a human.”  
As Kaito thought more about Saguru the easier the words came out of his mouth, “But it’s not just his looks that are pretty, Saguru is really honest and kind. Even if he can be a bit annoying when he gets pushy, it’s because he’s so determined to help. He’s so intelligent and amusing, able to keep up witty banter, it’s never boring when he’s around.” Kaito finally paused to take a breath.  
“Also there is…” How would he describe it, “There is just something about him.” What was this feeling, “I’ve been drawn to him since the day we spotted him wandering in the spirit forest. When we’re not playing or getting out of whatever trouble he managed to get us in, it’s peaceful to be beside him, just watching the clouds or the sunset or the stars. He...makes me feel safe. Like everything’s going to be okay.” Kaito then admitted in a small whisper, “And that scared me more than anything. It was too good to be true, I didn’t want to believe it and then it turn out to not be true.”  
He shook his head, clearing his throat, “But like you said. I shouldn’t let my fears get the better of me.” Then Kaito got one of the fondest looks on his face that Aoko had ever witnessed as his gaze wandered off, no longer seeing Aoko in front of him, “Saguru really is wonderful and I really do want to stay by his side forever.”

**October 18th「Secrets? I love secrets.」**

Aoko latched onto Kaito’s neck, rubbing her cheek against his, “Awww~ You’re too cute! My best friend is growing up.”  
Kaito pushed her off, “Enough about me, what about that quote ‘beautiful red witch’ who ‘can actually be quite cute when she gets flustered’ unquote? Seems to me you’ve taken a liking to her, not to mention I’ve noticed I’m not the only one who’s been taking trips out of the spirit forest to rendezvous with a human.” Kaito gave her a smirk with a teasing wag of his tails.  
Aoko looked around as if someone could be listening in on them, whispering, “Not so loud Bakaito! My dad is still wary of humans, even if a witch is more like a youkai. It’s still a secret that I’m visiting the witch’s place.”  
Kaito raised an eyebrow, “Oh? The honest and righteous Aoko, keeping secrets? How interesting.”  
Aoko gave him a pout, “Hmph, everyone has secrets don’t they? I know you do.”  
Another voice suddenly spoke from beside them, “Secrets? I love secrets.”  
Kaito yet out a small yelp as he jumped with tails raised in startlement for a moment before flattening his ears in annoyance, “Mom! Stop sneaking up on me.”  
The mother gave a little giggle at her son’s expression, “But you always look so cute and it’s so fun~” She held up a tray of treats and some tea, “Here I brought some snacks for you two.”  
They sat around the tray to enjoy the food and Chikage decided it was the perfect time to ask, “So Kaito…”  
No, not his mom too...  
She daintily took a sip of her tea, “I heard from your father that you may have said something foolish to Saguru.” Turning to give Aoko a gentle smile, “I trust that you have already talked some sense into him so that I won’t have to Aoko.” She maintained the pleasant and polite atmosphere as she continued to sip her tea.  
Except that Kaito knew better, being her son for so long, he could sense the subtle threat in her tone and expression, that was directed at him. She may have only met Saguru today but it was clear she took a liking to him, like practically anyone else who met him, and already thought of him as her own son. That meant Kaito better treat Saguru well.  
Aoko nodded, swallowing her mouthful of food, “Yes okaa-sama! What kind of sister would I be if I just let my dear baby brother make a stupid decision.”  
The woman nodded like a wise mentor, “Indeed, indeed. As expected of my daughter.” Kaito’s mother then gestured to the sun hanging low in the sky, indicating that it will soon be evening, “Now that you’ve had a break, you better hurry back and apologise to Saguru before it gets too late.” She said giving Kaito a now genuinely warm smile.  
“Huh?” Kaito was just getting used to facing his fears, he thought he’d go see Saguru tomorrow when he was more mentally prepared. “But it _is_ kinda late already, and it’s been a long day, I was thinking I should let him rest and can go see him tomorrow?”  
His mother and Aoko simultaneously gave him the same look.  
“Right! I’m just an idiot, I’ll just get going then, thanks for the delicious snacks, love you!”  
And Kaito was out the door on his way to Saguru’s.


	11. Chapter 11

**October 19th「Yes, I admit it, you were right.」**

“I’m sorry.” It’s the first thing Kaito says when Saguru answers his door.  
“Kaito?” Saguru’s amber eyes were wide in surprise, he honestly didn’t expect to see Kaito again after he ran away, especially not in the same day. He was preparing to go searching for the kitsune tomorrow, “You’re— you mean—”  
“Yes, I admit it, you were right.” Kaito glanced downwards, ears twitching, in shame, “I _was_ wrong. Even though it took both you and Aoko stating the obvious to me, I finally see that— that it’s okay for me to let others help.”  
Once again Saguru embraced Kaito in a tight hug, relieved that Kaito came back to him, “Thank goodness. I thought— I thought you may never come back to me, I was afraid I lost you…”  
Kaito returned the embrace, burying his face in Saguru’s shoulder, “For a moment I thought so too, but I’ve finally realised that I care for you more than I thought, more than a best friend. I love you Saguru. And I want to stay by your side.” He leaned back to directly face Saguru, “I’m sorry I ran away, I’m sorry I hurt you. Can I— Will you please help me?”  
Saguru leaned in to place his forehead against Kaito’s, “I would love to help you.”  
The two couldn’t stop smiling as they stood there in each other’s arms.

**October 20th「You could talk about it, you know?」**

They sat on the roof of Saguru’s house, leaning into each other as they watch the sun set.  
“You could talk about it, you know?” Saguru finally broke the calm quiet that had settled over them, “You were finally able to tell me about your fears but there’s still something about you that I can’t quite figure out… and I feel like it’s a part of the reason you have these fears.”  
Kaito blankly stared at Saguru for a moment… then his ears perked up as he realised, he never told Saguru did he? It just never came up for some reason, “Oh, that. I guess I just forgot to tell you? You know how youkai don’t have family names like humans? Some go by nicknames to help prevent their real names from being revealed to those who might want to try controlling them. But we all have just one name that is who we are. Although it’s rare, since it requires traditional training and strong power, there are also some families, or multiple that form a clan, that come together under one name. Being able to claim a family name is a symbol of your family or clan’s power.” Kaito rubbed his cheek with a finger, “My family actually has a name...it’s Kuroba.”  
Saguru blinked at him, “Kuroba? As in the Lucky Clover forest?”  
Kaito nodded, “The forest was named after my ancestors, because my family watches over this forest. I guess you could call us something like rulers over the area? Since we do guide the youkai, but we’re more like guardians, we watch over and protect the forest and all the youkai who live in it.” The kitsune lightly ruffled his tails that were wrapped around Saguru’s back, and used a hand to flick at one of his black ears, “The Kuroba name is why my family are the only black kitsunes around here.”  
Saguru straightened up from where he was leaning against Kaito with eyes widened as he stared at the black kitsune next to him, “So you’re telling me I managed to befriend not just any youkai, but _the_ Kuroba Kaito?”  
“You don’t have to say it like _that_, but yeah.” He shrugged, “Congratulations, you’re the first human to catch the youkai of the Kuroba shrine.” Kaito gave him a grin.  
Saguru kept staring in disbelief, “Are you serious? You do know that the village prays to your family like _gods_, right?”  
Kaito’s ears lowered and he rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Heh heh, yeah… it is part of the reason our magic can be so powerful, the energy collected from human prayers are very valuable.”  
After a moment of processing this new information, Saguru regained his content expression and leaned back against Kaito, “Although that would explain why you thought you had to do everything by yourself.”  
Kaito nodded, “I guess it was the pressure of knowing I needed to become strong enough to protect the entire forest. The lives of all the youkai who live here are my responsibility to watch over and guide.” His tails curled a little closer against Saguru as he leaned his cheek against the blond’s head, “Part of my training is to prepare for when I eventually take my father’s position and become the official guardian of the forest.”  
Saguru took one of Kaito’s hands in his own, using his thumbs to massage it in a gentle motion, “It must have been hard, taking on all that responsibility and caring so much for everyone, all on your own.”  
“I probably made it harder than it had to be,” He nuzzled his face into the blond hair, “But now I can rely on you and my family for help. I was never alone.”  
That’s right Kaito didn’t have to be alone and he finally understood that now.  
Despite the cool air of the night breeze, the two of them stayed warm as they sat together on the roof, staring at the beautiful stars.


	12. Chapter 12

**October 21st「Change is annoyingly difficult.」**

The next day, Kaito’s parents, Aoko-san, Kaito, and Saguru were in the Kuroba’s study, reading through— well everyone else was, Saguru still couldn’t read much of youkai script and instead helped move, sort, and pass around— the various books and documents. Despite what the name, ‘Lucky Clover Forest’ may suggest, no luck was to be found during their search for a stronger seal. When the got through the last of the material without any sign of what they were looking for, even Kaito’s father was starting to look a little grim.  
But Aoko-san didn’t let that get her too down, she bounced back with an idea, “Akako-chan might have something that can help, why don’t we go check out her library?”  
Chikage-san looked at her in interest, “Oh? Is Akako-chan the lovely red witch I’ve heard about?”  
Now Saguru’s interest was piqued as well, he had heard rumours of a witch residing in the eastern part of the forest but had never seen her himself. And he didn’t expect Aoko-san to know her well enough to call her Akako-chan.  
The white kitsune slowly wagged her tails and fidgeted with her hands in sudden embarrassment like she suddenly realised she said something that was supposed to be a secret, “Ah, well,—yes she would be— the witch I might have mentioned— that I— sometimes— visit?”  
Touichi-san gave a small chuckle, “Dear, don’t tease Aoko too much. We’re lucky she knows the witch so well, it may just be the solution we’re looking for.” He smiled reassuringly at Aoko-san, “Don’t worry, we won’t be telling your father of this, it sounds like a good idea.” The man walked to the doorway and gave a polite bow, “Please, lead the way to your friend’s place, it’s in our best interests to hurry.”  
Aoko-san nodded, full of energy again and leapt up from where she sat, “Yes! Right this way.”  
Chikage got up too and Saguru was about to follow, but Kaito remained where he sat on the dark red Queen Anne style sofa.  
“You guys go on ahead, I’m going to stay here and keep looking in case we missed something.”  
Touichi-san nodded, then he and his wife followed Aoko-san to witch’s place.  
Saguru remained by Kaito’s side and was starting to get frustrated with worry, feeling useless as he watched Kaito continue to search through the documents, looking for something they might have missed or anything that could lead them to a new idea to try.  
The somber silence was starting to get to Saguru, he had to try something, say anything, “Do we need more power to be able to stop the demon?” Was there some way that he could perhaps help by asking his fae friends for help?  
Continuing to flip through the pages in front of him, Kaito answered, “Fortunately, even with the crazy amount of power this demon has,” Kaito glanced up to give him a cheeky grin, “our family is a bit crazier, we do have enough power.” His grin slid off replaced by the solemn look. “The problem is that…” Kaito thought about how to explain it, “We’ve never encountered a demon of this immense amount of power before, and so the seals we currently know aren’t made to handle as much power we need to seal it. It looks like we’ll need to create some changes to the measurements and incantations, but change is annoyingly difficult. To create a new seal of our own that is unlike any we’ve used before...we may not have enough time to finish it before the demon breaks out...”

**October 22nd「We could have a chance.」**

No wonder things weren’t looking so good. Creating something meant to hold something so scary, it won’t be easy especially with what little time they had based on Touichi-san’s assessment of the current seal.  
Saguru suddenly had an idea, “What if, instead of trying to create a new structure for resealing it. We exorcise the demon instead?”  
Kaito paused his shuffle of papers to stare at Saguru for a minute while he ran the idea through his head and then broke into a wide grin, “Saguru you brilliant fairy blessed brat!” He brought a hand up to his chin in thought, “Normally an exorcism would be a bit too much for our skill level— as much as I hate to admit it— with a demon this powerful. But the red witch they’ve gone to see, I believe she’s dealt with her fair share of exorcisms and will be able to help make up for our lack of demon experience. And with your help, adding one more set of hands and amplifying our energies... that might just be possible.” Kaito’s bright blue eyes shone with a newfound hope, “We could have a chance.”  
He leapt up from the couch and Saguru followed him to a smaller room next to the study, with dark hardwood floor, light grey walls, and black out curtains covering the single window. In the middle of the room, stood an elegant stone pedestal with youkai script carved into its sides and a basin filled with water, sitting on top.  
Kaito walked over to it holding his hands above the water and began to mutter a phrase similar to the one he had uttered at the mirror pool, causing the carved script and water to glow a light purple.  
Soon a shadowed face with glowing crimson eyes, appeared in the water and said in a deep intimidating voice, “Who dares to request an audience with the great red witch?”  
Kaito gave the glowering face a deadpan look, “Mephistopheles, it’s me.”  
The shadows cleared to reveal the face of what looked like a goblin, “Oh Kaito-botchama! Please excuse my rudeness, I did not realise you were the one calling!” Mehistopheles bowed its head in respect. “Please allow me to go fetch Akako-ojou-sama right away.” The goblin? scurried away.  
After about a minute, a beautiful woman with striking eyes and silky dark red hair shimmered into view, giving a curt nod, “Kuroba-kun.”  
Kaito returned the nod, “Akako-chan. Is my father there? I would like to speak to him please.”  
“Ah yes, I was just speaking to Kuroba-sama, he and Kuroba-san are in the library searching the books with,” The red witch’s elegant voice faltered the slightest bit, “your little white kitsune friend.” She couldn’t hold back the faint twitch of her lips into the hint of a smile on her otherwise passive face, upon mentioning whom Saguru assumes to be Aoko-san. Oh? It would seem that Aoko-san and the red witch may be as good of friends as Saguru was with the black kitsune at his side.  
Then a more serious expression came upon her face, “Is this about the demon that is soon to break free?”  
Kaito nodded, just as serious, “Yes, which is what I’d like to talk to my father about.” Kaito leaned back to bring Saguru in font of the water with an arm slung around his shoulders, “This brilliant mind, came up with an idea!”  
Crimson eyes locked onto the blond human, “So this must be the interesting human I’ve heard about.”  
Suddenly a little nervous to be directly observed by the beautiful woman, Saguru gave a polite bow, “I’m Saguru, pleasure to meet you Akako-sama.”  
“Hmm~ Kuroba-san was right, not just pretty but polite too.”  
Kaito took a half step to protectively stand between Saguru and Akako-san’s image, “Oi! Stop trying to cast your charm on him.”  
She allowed herself a small smirk, “The rumours are true, the little fox prince likes his shiny things~ and he’s possessive.” She shrugged, holding a dainty hand in front of her mouth, “I can’t help that I’m so naturally alluring, oh-ho-ho-ho~”  
Said ‘fox prince’ scowled in annoyance, “I told you to stop calling me that, I’m not some royal.”  
Her little smirk persisted as crimson eyes glittered with amusement, “You might as well be, with as much power and responsibility your family holds.” The red witch held up a hand to casually inspect her long red nails, “The Kurobas practically rule this entire area and everyone looks up to you as such.”  
Kaito rolled his eyes, “A-ny-ways— since I heard you’re pretty good at exorcisms, I also wanted to know if you’d be up for joining us for a demon exorcism?”  
Akako-san regained a serious look, “It’s true, I do have some experience dealing with demons and exorcising them. And from what I can sense from the one trying to break out, it would be in everyone’s best interests to be rid of it as soon as possible.” She gave a deep nod, “Yes you may rely on the great red witch’s powers in your fight against the demon.”  
Kaito gave Saguru a covert eye roll at Akako-san’s choice of wording, then turned back to the water, “Great! Now could the great Akako-sama inform my father that I would like to speak to him? Because we should probably get preparations started as soon as possible.”  
The red witch disappeared with a whirl of her flowy red robes.  
Then a moment later, Kaito’s parents appeared.  
“Akako tells me you have a new plan that you ‘absolutely must tell me about post haste’?”  
“She didn’t have to word it that way,” Kaito muttered with a pout, then perked up,“ but yes because my beautiful boy Saguru,” He once again gestured to the human beside him, “suggested, what if we perform an exorcism rather than trying to create a new seal?”  
Touichi-san looked at them calmly for a moment and then broke into a big warm smile, “You’re right, with the help of the red witch and Saguru.” The man nodded like a sage, “Yes we could make this work and it will take less time to prepare. We should be able to complete preparations just in time.”  
With tails wagging in excitement, Kaito looked much happier now that they could start working on something that had hope, “I’ll start working on a diagram here and you two can gather techniques and incantations from Akako-chan?”  
Touichi-san nodded, then turned to Saguru, “And Saguru, thank you for your help. We might have wasted too much time trying to make something work if you weren’t here to give us a new perspective.”  
Saguru smiled with a small nod, “It’s my pleasure Touichi-san. I love this forest and the wonderful youkai I’ve met. I want to do anything I can to protect it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just gave the servant one of the common demon names, Mephistopheles, used in literature


	13. Chapter 13

**October 23rd「You can’t give more than yourself.」**

Kaito met Saguru at the human’s house the next day, to show him the exorcism, that Kaito and his dad worked on— with some advice from the red witch— they would be using.  
Kaito was looking at the notes he copied of the diagram and sigils they would be using, “There’s just one thing left. We need a proper catalyst to be able to conduct all the power needed to exorcise the demon, into the spell, without causing harm to the casters.” He continued to stare hard at the paper in his hand, “But where can I find something with enough capacity and sturdiness…” He ruffled his hair in frustration.  
Saguru muttered from where he sat beside him, “You can’t give more than yourself.”  
Kaito flipped through the papers, “Hmm?”  
“My mother would tell me ‘you can’t give more than yourself’ that there’s nothing more powerful we can offer than our own soul. Humans may not be able to use magic as well as fae or youkai but we do have the most powerful souls. That’s why so many youkai are still drawn to us or try to eat us, despite the horror stories of humans.”  
Black ears turned backwards and matching tails rose in agitation as Kaito suddenly looked up from his notes to lean in Saguru’s face, “No! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself!”  
“Calm down Kaito. I don’t need to die,” He gave Kaito a smirk, “You won’t get rid of me that easily. We just need a way to collect my energy,” Saguru’s smirk grew a little wider, “and you happen to have the perfect way to do that.” He finished explaining with a wink.  
Tails lowered to a more relaxed position as he processed the idea. That’s right, Kaito could make a star marble charmed for exorcising, and Saguru was perfect for filling it with energy being more attuned to the spiritual world than other humans with his natural, fairy blessed energy. All he had to do was— oh. Oh! His ears flicked forward. That’s why the blond brat was giving him that look. He just had to...but somehow the thought of kissing Saguru after their feelings had been made clear, after Kaito had finally admitted it to himself, it was just...harder. Before, they were just really good best friends and it was simply Saguru being stubborn again about using an efficient way to collect human energy…at least that was what Kaito kept trying to tell himself. He wasn’t fooling anyone, he’s fallen completely in love with Saguru, had been for a while now.  
Nope. Kaito was not quite ready to face this yet, time to retreat for now and come back better prepared; yeah, that sounds like a plan. And so once again Kaito did what he was good at, he made his escape.

**October 24th「Patience… is not something I’m known for.」**

Or Kaito at least tried to make an escape. Starting to blush, Kaito replied, “Th-that’s right! I can make a star marble for us to use. Another brilliant idea from my favourite human! Good! We have a battle plan then.” He spun around, facing away from Saguru to head back to the spirit village, “It’s getting late, this can wait until tomorrow! You should get yourself some rest if you want to build up your energy for beating the demon.” Then he began speed walking away.  
But Saguru wasn’t going to let him get away, not this time. He caught his hand, pulling Kaito backwards into his chest as he whispered into his ear, “Sorry, after how long we’ve spent together, you should have learned by now,”  
Kaito was pliable in Saguru’s hold as he was turned to face the amber eyes that trapped him in their gaze.  
“Patience... is not something I’m known for.”  
Kaito gulped at the intense look Saguru was giving him. He wasn’t ready, he was not ready. Kaito might just be the one to faint this time if this keeps up.  
“And from what you said about how dangerous this demon is, it would be in our best interests to prepare a powerful star marble as soon as possible.” Saguru leaned in towards Kaito with their noses brushing but lips not quite touching. Despite his bold words, Saguru was still waiting for permission, not wanting to take like last time.  
Kaito had never been good at saying no to Saguru. The only reason he even tried to say no was because he was afraid. He had been afraid of getting too close, afraid of becoming attached. He was afraid of putting Saguru in danger, afraid of losing him. He was afraid of getting hurt.  
But Kaito didn’t have to be afraid anymore did he?  
Kaito leaned in to close the distance between their lips.  
They ignored the fact that Kaito hadn’t placed the star marble in his mouth yet, enjoying each other before they got around to their supposed need to kiss right now.


	14. Chapter 14

**October 25th「I could really eat something.」**

After enjoying their first kiss, Kaito ducked his head to fetch the star marble from his pouch while attempting to hide his still too warm face. He had just pulled the star marble out so they could begin filling it with energy, and had gathered the courage to face Saguru again, to find a big grin on the blond’s face. Kaito stared at the beautiful expression and almost didn’t notice Saguru suddenly scooping him up in a bridal carry, carrying him to his bedroom where Kaito barely had enough time to shove the marble in his mouth before they began kissing again.  
This time making sure to keep the flow controlled and stopping periodically to give Saguru sips of the energy potion they had made a few days ago, it didn’t take them long to have a sizeable star marble formed. It was now slightly larger than the one Kaito had gifted Saguru on his birthday as it barely popped out of their mouths when Kaito retrieved it.  
Saguru sipped on the last of an energy potion as he watched the kitsune draw a fine point calligraphy brush and some ink out of his pouch and began writing symbols on the star marble that would glow a light purple then fade away as Kaito held a hand over them with his eyes closed in concentration, murmuring incantations.  
Once Kaito was finished, he held the star marble up to examine it’s now deep amber colour with milky stripes of indigo and lavender swirling through it. “There we go, all finished. One star marble ready to exorcise a demon.”  
Saguru stared at the new star marble, “It’s beautiful.”  
Kaito lowered the star marble, done with his inspection, turning towards Saguru with a smile, “It’s because you gave me some high quality energy to work with.” He gave Saguru a wink.  
As a light blush appeared on his face, Saguru cleared his throat, “So, what now? Anything else we need to do to prepare for the exorcism?”  
“I could really eat something.” Kaito tucked the star marble away in his purple pouch along with the brush and ink, “Making such a powerful star marble took a lot of magic and I’m starving.” He linked his fingers together, stretching with his arms raised above his head and tails fully fanned out behind him, “You must be pretty hungry too, even with the energy recovery potion, using that much energy still works up an appetite.”  
Now that Kaito mentioned it, Saguru was feeling a bit hungry, “Then food it is. I’ll cook you something.”  
Kaito’s tails started wagging at the mention of Saguru’s cooking, the kitsune loved it when Saguru cooked for him and the human dishes he made. Kaito loved the food his mom made but she rarely made human dishes, and there’s just something about them— maybe because they don’t make use of a touch of magic enhancement in the preparation— that makes them so, well, so human. And Kaito had always been fond of humans hadn’t he. But as much as he loved enjoying the tasty food with someone he loved, it wasn’t his favourite part. His favourite part was getting to sit at the small table in the kitchen, watching Saguru dance between the counter, sink, and stove as he cooked. Kaito found it calming to watch the way the human would move with a grace unique to his cooking and found the little tunes Saguru would hum as he worked, soothing.  
Kaito once again sat at the little table, happily watching Saguru begin to cook as the kitsune began to be hit with the intense feelings of how much he wanted to keep experiencing moments like these with Saguru.  
_Ah_. He was feeling a little tired, perhaps he’ll just close his eyes this time and rest for a bit. Kaito lay his head on his folded arms resting on the table, hiding the stray tear that managed to fall despite his efforts. Kaito focused on the sound of Saguru’s melodious humming.

**October 26th「You keep me warm.」**

Although he tried to ignore his sadder thoughts and focus on eating the food, Saguru still noticed something about Kaito as they ate.  
“What is it Kaito, do you not like the taste of the food? I tried something a little different today, I can make something else.”  
Kaito shook his head, “No, it’s delicious, like always.”  
Saguru sat there patiently giving Kaito a soft smile, prompting him to please continue.  
Kaito slowly chewed his current mouthful, savoring it before having to face his thoughts as he finally swallowed, “It’s so delicious. I love it and I love spending time with— with you.” His voice couldn’t stay steady any longer, wobbling as he uttered the next words, “I want to stay with you forever, I love you Saguru.” Kaito lowered his head, trying to hide his face as a few tears fell onto the table, unable to hold them back any longer.  
Saguru placed a warm hand on one of Kaito’s that now lay still on the table next to his food, “I love you too Kaito.” Saguru continued to look at him fondly, “I’m sorry it hurts, thank you for loving me. I want to keep spending time with you too.” He then used his other hand to reach out to Kaito’s head, soothingly patting the soft hair.  
After a few minutes of silence and stroking, Kaito took a deep breath and slowly let it out.  
Now that Kaito was clamer, able to better deal with these emotions, he looked up, able to give a small but genuine smile, “Thank you Saguru. Let’s finish eating this delicious food before it gets cold.”  
It was late evening when they finished eating, so they once again spent the last of the evening sitting upon the roof of Saguru’s house as they watched the sunset.  
A chilly breeze blew past them as the cooler weather began moving in.  
Not wanting Saguru to get sick, Kaito asked him, “Is it not too cold out here?”  
Saguru shook his head, humming a negative, “You keep me warm.” He sunk further into Kaito’s tails that were wrapped around him, rubbing his cheek into them.  
Just then, a raven flew up and landed next to them, holding out a scroll towards Kaito who accepted it and began reading.  
As he read the scroll, Kaito suddenly made a small surprised sound, expression turning serious, “It’s a message from my dad, he was checking up on the sealed demon, and it seems the seal won’t hold for much longer. The demon is likely going to break out sometime in the next couple of days. So tomorrow we’ll start setting up everything and will have to work with what we have, exorcising the demon before it can cause any real damage.” He lowered the scroll to smile at Saguru, “But what he doesn’t know is that you helped me make the perfect energy conduit that we needed, so we’re definitely going to succeed.” Tucking away the scroll, Kaito wrapped his arm around Saguru to pull him in closer, curling his tails in snugger around Sagutu’s side.  
They watched the rest of the sunset like this, leaning into each other with Saguru’s head resting on Kaito’s shoulder and Kaito’s head resting on Saguru’s.  
Once the last of the sun’s light disappeared, Kaito sighed, “I guess I should head back now. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. And you should get some rest.”  
Parting reluctantly, they bid each other farewell until tomorrow, but not before sneaking in one last kiss for the night. 


	15. Chapter 15

**October 27th「Can you wait for me?」**

Even though it had only been a few hours since Kaito left Saguru’s house to return home, the thought of what they had to do, that soon they would have to face one of the biggest challenges they have ever faced; he grew restless with worry about tomorrow and decided to return to Saguru’s house for the night.  
Before he left, he stopped by the study where his father was still looking over the notes for tomorrow, doing last checks since Kaito had brought him the final piece they needed to make this plan work well.  
His father looked up from his notes when Kaito entered, “Kaito? What is it?”  
“I’m not really sure, but I can’t shake this anxious feeling. I need to go back to Saguru’s, I’m going to stay with him tonight.”  
His father nodded, “Be careful on your way.”  
Kaito nodded back and turned to leave, “I’ll be heading off now.”

When Kaito arrived at the human’s house, somehow Saguru managed to sense Kaito and stepped outside to talk with him under the nearly full moon.  
Just seeing Saguru helped most of Kaito’s uneasy feelings dissipate. He grabbed Saguru’s hand, “I wanted to see you.”  
Saguru nodded, placing his other hand over Kaito’s, “I was thinking the same thing.”  
They stood there staring at each other for a moment before Saguru seemed to remember something, breaking the silence, “Can you wait for me?”  
Kaito nodded and Saguru went back inside, returning with a dark red bead bracelet.  
“I was going to give it to you tomorrow but since you’re here, I feel like I should give it to you now.” Saguru turned the bracelet in his hands, “I had help from your mother and the fairies. I used some magic to make a protective charm for you.” He pulled an olive green pouch he was wearing around his neck, from under his shirt and inside contained the star marble Kaito had given him, “I figured since I have the protective charm you gave me, I could give you your own.” He placed the marble back in the pouch lifting the bracelet, “I made it to help clear and protect your mind. Your mother also helped me add a mental bond so that I can find you if you call to me while wearing the bracelet, like how the star marble you made, works for me.”  
Taking Kaito’s hand, Saguru slipped on the bracelet. The last of the uneasy feelings disappeared, lifting a weight off him that Kaito didn’t notice until now. He could feel his heavy thoughts become clearer. The dark energy of the demon that had been slowly seeping out into more and more of the forest must have affected Kaito more than he realised, making him tired and agitated. Now with the protection of the bracelet Saguru made him, he felt much calmer.  
That night, as they held each other close, Kaito got some of the most peaceful sleep he’s had since the day the demon’s seal first began to crack.


	16. Chapter 16

**October 28th「Enough! I heard enough.」**

The next morning, Kaito’s parents, Aoko-san, Akako-san, Kaito, Saguru, and six other youkai, gathered at the tree that held the sealed demon. The demon’s heavy presence had become stifilig since the day Saguru first saw it. Everyone carried purified leafs that Chikage-san prepared, to lessen the effects of the dark energy radiating off the demon. They began drawing the sigils and youkai script of the casting circle in the clearing surrounding the tree, using the enchanted ink Akako-san made. They finished drawing the circle at about noon and took a break to eat. Chikage-san had made sandwiches for everyone. They were made of the same nutritional strength restoring bread that Kaito had shared with Saguru before, some kind of green meat that actually tasted similar to ham, slices of these tasty giant mushrooms that grew in the forest, and a jam made of those sweet-sour berries. After the meal, the Kaito, Touichi-san, the red witch, and two of the other youkai began casting the enchantments they needed onto the painted sigils and youkai script in order to finalise the circle. Saguru, Chikage-san, Aoko-san and the other four youkai assisted them.

Twilight was upon them as they finished the last of the preparations.  
And just barely in time as there was suddenly a change in the air like the smell of ozone before a thunderstorm is about to break out, as Saguru could suddenly feel an uncomfortable tingly feeling that sent goosebumps running across his skin.  
Chikage-san warned everyone, “It’s about to break out!” She took a defensive stance next to her husband, “Aoko! Protect them!”  
Aoko-san gathered the other youkai safely to the edge of the clearing and threw up a sapphire blue barrier to surround her and the six other youkai they needed to form a complete casting circle of twelve for the exorcism.

Then like a bolt of lightning that erupted _from_ the tree rather than hitting it, a spike of dark energy shot into the sky as the crack left a gaping hole in the tree, allowing a view of the demon inside struggling to get out.  
A rough sounding voice— no it was a mix of two voices, like one was slightly behind the other giving it an uncomfortable delay effect— began to emanate like it was speaking directly to their minds, “Soon. Soon I will be free and the humans will pay for what they did!”  
Then the demon spotted Kaito. He could feel the demon’s sickening energy reach out to his mind as it focused on him.  
“Hear my cries, great guardian of the forest. Humans can’t be trusted.” An image of Saguru suddenly flashed through Kaito’s mind.  
The demon let out an angry growl, “That human doesn’t care for you. He’s only luring you into a trap to steal your powers. He has an affinity for the spirit world and could tell there was something special about you. Now that he knows who you are and just how powerful you can be, he is just waiting for the perfect opportunity to betray you. And even if you don’t want to admit it, you know this is true. Remember what the humans did to Aoko’s mother. You must help me punish the humans.”  
But amongst the terrible voice and its harsh words, Kaito heard something else calling out to him.  
“Kaito”  
It sounded muffled but grew stronger.  
“Kaito!”  
Was that—  
“Saguru?” Kaito suddenly opened his eyes. The dark red bead bracelet Saguru made him, glowed a light green as it cleared his mind, allowing him to remember where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. He also recalled the things the demon said and started to worry about what Saguru might think, “How much of that did you hear? I don’t really think that. I know you would never—”  
“Enough! I heard enough.” Saguru cut him off with a glare.  
Kaito was a little taken aback by how angry Saguru looked. It wasn’t playfully annoyed or frustrated with worry, as Kaito had seen in the past, but truly angry. Kaito started to panic thinking the look was directed at him but Saguru strode up to protectively stand in front of him as he glared at the demon, addressing it, “And now I’m even more certain than before that I want to destroy you for even daring to hurt Kaito.”

Then the demon broke out of the last of the seal, the force of it nearly knocked them over as another wave of dark emotions weighed on them. Unfortunately the force damaged part of the sigils on the circle.  
“Hold off the demon while I mend the sigils!” Akako-san began concentrating with her hands held over the broken part as she muttered a series of words, causing it to glow red.  
Then a terrible grating mix of voices cried out “Die you filthy humans!”  
The demon swung one of it’s long limbs releasing dark energy in the shape of a sharp crescent in his direction.  
Saguru should have been able to dodge the oncoming attack of the demon, but if he dodged, then Akako-san who wasn’t done mending the sigil yet, would be hit and he couldn’t move fast enough to get them both out of the way. So in that moment, Saguru made the instinctive move to hold his ground and brace for the attack that he knew was powerful enough that he could die.  
Except it never got to him. Because Kaito was faster. The next thing Saguru was aware of was Kaito’s body slamming into his, causing them to fall to the ground as he was clutched to the kitsune’s chest. But not before he felt a sickening shock of force, separate from Kaito’s impact, hit his body through Kaito’s as a cry of pain filled his ears.  
Even though Saguru had experienced nightmares filled with them, he had never actually heard the real thing before and had never wanted to. It was worse than he ever imagined, the sound of Kaito being hurt tore at his heart.  
Amber eyes flew open from reflexively shutting during the impact and fall. Saguru blankly stared at the skin of Kaito’s neck he could see. Kaito had protectively cradled Saguru’s head when they fell, tucking it into Kaito’s shoulder.  
“Kaito?”  
There was no response.  
Saguru started to panic, “Kaito!” He pat at Kaito’s head and arm, “Come on! Get up, you have to get up Kaito!”  
The body on top of him groaned as he released his hold on Saguru to raise himself up.  
They stood up with Kaito leaning into Saguru for some support.  
Saguru looked over to see Touichi-san and Chikage-san successfully holding the demon back with a series of moves almost like a dance as they beautifully worked in sync to defend and attack. He also noticed a new fire in their eyes that was also somehow terrifyingly calm. They were furious about the demon hurting their son.  
“Lucky, looks like the protective star marble I made you, helped me too since we were close enough.” It was then that Saguru suddenly noticed a faint blue glow surrounding them, as it slowly faded away.  
“You don’t have to look so worried. It’s not too bad, just stings a bit as to be expected when fighting a demon” Kaito gave him a wide grin, except it was the kind of grin that Saguru hated because it meant that Kaito was trying to pretend he was fine.  
“Don’t give me that grin like you’re alright! You’re hurt!”  
Kaito dropped the grin in surprise before giving Saguru a small, now genuine, smile, “I really can’t hide anything from you. Thanks for your concern. Yeah to tell the truth it hurts quite a lot but the injury isn’t too bad.” He glanced at the demon his parents were still fighting, “And we really need to exorcise this demon now.”  
Thankfully that was when Akako-san spoke up, “It’s complete! Everyone into position!”  
Having heard the signal, Aoko-san moved from where she had been standing to the side, continuing to maintain the protective barrier while the fight went on.  
Kaito left Saguru’s side to help his parents maneuver the demon to the center as everyone took their place. Once the demon was lured back to the center, Aoko-san and Akako-san threw up a barrier around the demon so that the Kurobas could get into place. They were now ready to begin the exorcism. Kaito held out the amber star marble and began the exorcism. As he started to chant the demon began to scream louder than before and bashed at the barrier that was quickly cracking. But that wouldn’t be a problem as everyone else began chanting as well and the casting circle grabbed hold of the demon.  
Saguru focused on saying the words that Kaito taught him as he could feel all the energy flowing through and around him. They continued chanting as the demon shattered the barrier and began to struggle at the bonds of the circle. They were getting close, Saguru could feel it. Then all of a sudden he was hit with a wave of pain as the demon cried out one last time, but instead of its previous rage and bitterness, this was an immense sadness and longing. Saguru had to close his eyes as a few tears slipped down his face. Then as abruptly as it had hit him, it vanished and everything went silent.  
Saguru opened his eyes to see a glowing white mass that began to dissipate until two softly glowing figures were left standing in the center of the circle. It was the youkai and human from the memories, Saguru realised. He watched as they bowed and a much more soothing and almost melodious mix of two voices speaking as one said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused. Thank you.” With those final words, the two faded away.  
  
Kaito was suddenly at Saguru’s side and slung an arm around his shoulders, “See! Look at us, there’s no better team for exorcising a demon.” That one sentence seemed to take the last of Kaito’s breath as he panted trying to regain it after that intense battle.  
“We barely managed that. And I thought you were about to die when you shielded me from that attack.” Saguru placed a hand on the one Kaito had on Saguru’s shoulder, “Don’t scare me like that, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced.”  
Kaito gave him a tired but big grin, “Don’t worry about me, I’m pretty tough you know.”  
But just as Kaito said that, his arm started to slip from Saguru’s shoulder as blue eyes slid shut and Kaito fell to the ground.


	17. Chapter 17

**October 29th「I’m doing this for you.」**

Saguru pulls Kaito into his arms. The kitsune had broken out into a sweat and gone pale.  
“Kaito! What’s wrong?”  
Aoko-san and Kaito’s parents are quickly at their side.  
Akako-san speaks up, “Check his back, I believe he got hit with a nasty attack while I was mending the sigil.”  
Aoko-san swiftly turns Kaito over, pulling down the top part of his robes to reveal a black sickly looking mark in the shape of a large cut, across Kaito’s back. Even though there was no blood, the mark was clearly just as bad as an actual open wound with the way it seemed to be draining Kaito of his energy and causing just as much pain.  
She holds her hands over the wound, causing a light blue glow to surround it, “He’s being poisoned by the demon’s tainted energy. I need a cleansing elixir.”  
Touichi-san pulled out a bottle of light turquoise coloured liquid from his pouch, handing it to Aoko-san who quickly applied it to the black mark on Kaito’s back and held her hands over it. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she began muttering incantations causing it to glow again as the applied solution glowed and began to sink into the skin.  
Chikage-san wrapped an arm around Saguru, “It’ll be okay, the poison hasn’t progressed to the point of no recovery and Aoko is a skilled healer.” She assured Saguru, “Kaito’s going to be fine.” Although that last part sounded a little as if she was trying to comfort herself as well.  
After a few minutes the glowing faded away along with the nasty looking mark, leaving a faint scar.  
Aoko-san lowered her hands, “The poison’s cleansed now, we got to it just in time.” She brushed back some of the sweaty hair from Kaito’s forehead and placed a gentle hand on the side of his face that thankfully started to regain some colour, “Now he just needs plenty of rest.”  
They collectively let out a sigh of relief.  
Then Kaito woke up, opening his eyes, “Huh? How did I end up on the ground?”  
Aoko-san, Saguru, and Chikage-san smothered Kaito in a hug between them.  
“Bakaito! You got poisoned by the demon, don’t scare Aoko like that!”  
“Weren’t you listening while I was just telling you how terrible it was to have to see you get hurt? And then you go collapsing on me.”  
“Thank goodness you’re alright dear! You better apologise for worrying us. And thank Aoko for saving you yet again.”

While everyone else bid them goodnight and went back to their homes in the spirit forest, Saguru and Kaito return to Saguru’s house, a little sore but very much alive and safe.  
They were soon exchanging a few kisses of out of relief and overall joy of being together, before they lay down to get some rest.  
As they lay in bed together; one of Saguru’s hands was being cradled between Kaito’s, while his other hand lazily stroked the kitsune’s black ears as he watched Kaito’s peaceful dozing face.  
Saguru softly spoke, “Hey Kaito?”  
“Mhmm?” Kaito kept his eyes closed as he lazily hummed.  
“I want to bond with you. I want to bond our energies like that ritual we saw in the demon’s memories.”  
Deep blue eyes flew open, “Are you sure?” His tails started to slowly wag, “You saw that demon’s memory. If anything goes wrong— it’s a difficult ritual to pull off— well I guess if anyone could do it it’d be my family and you do have naturally strong spiritual powers— but once a human bonds with a youkai, they usually can’t continue living with other humans and start to fade from their perception and memory while not being directly interacted with—”  
Saguru cut Kaito off with another kiss, pulling back after Kaito had once again relaxed under his touch, “Trust me, I want to do this.” He lightly squeezed Kaito’s hand that was still holding his, “I’m doing this for you, for me, for us. I really want there to be an us for countless years to come.”  
Kaito did too, he wanted it so badly that it hurt. That want to keep Saguru by his side is why one of his biggest fears was the thought of losing him and also why he was able to move as fast as he did when the demon tried to attack Saguru.  
“So what do you say Kaito?”

**October 30th「I’m with you, you know that.」**

Kaito isn’t even sure why he bothered asking Saguru if he was sure about this, it had always been the two of them against the world, why would Saguru want to change that. And it was a given he wanted this too, Kaito wanted Saguru to stay by his side.  
Kaito gave him a big grin, “Yes, let’s do it. Let’s get bonded” He buried his face in Saguru’s chest, “Whatever you want, I’m with you, you know that. Have been since the night you followed me into the forest.”


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, Kaito and Saguru asked Kaito’s parents to help perform the bonding ritual.  
The parents shared a knowing smile.  
“Of course! I already consider you part of the family.” Kaito’s mom wrapped them in a warm hug.  
Kaito’s dad gave them a warm smile, “It would be my pleasure to have my son bond with such a fine gentlemen.”  
Word spread fast and by the time the ritual preparations were complete at sunset, every youkai in the Lucky Clover forest had gathered to watch their Kaito-sama become bonded.  
Even Akako came to the ritual, standing at the front next to Aoko. And being a wise gentleman, Saguru thought to invite his fae friends as well— he wasn’t about to accidentally offend them, especially after all the help they’ve given him— who were delighted to see something so rare.  
Once everything was ready and everyone stood around eagerly waiting, twilight had begun, providing a breathtaking background for the large plateau that jutted out of the side of the mountain, providing a vast view of their forest below. Everyone stood facing the twilight while Kaito and Saguru stepped into the circle and faced each other. Kaito’s parents stood on either side of the ritual circle and began to cast the bonding. The circle began to glow a soft white and soon wisps the colour of amber and amethyst began floating about the air around them.  
While Kaito’s parents had been making preparations, Kaito taught Saguru the incantation he would have to say. And Saguru beautifully delivered it then fondly smiled at Kaito as he delivered his part. The glow of amber and amethyst expanded and wove together then closed in to wrap around the two, enveloping them in the mesmerising colours.  
To complete the bonding, they sealed it with a kiss.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Bad End scene
> 
> Inspired by some lovely bloody kitsune Kaito art I had the privilege of seeing, by [Poki/Chibs](https://sup-poki.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Does not contribute to the story, completely skip-able; just a bonus 'what if' for people who enjoy angst and suffering or a bad end in general.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
Not explicit but suggestive.  
There is injury.  
Gore not described in detail but is mentioned.

**October 29th「I’m doing this for you.」  
[ Bad End ]**

Kaito roughly kisses Saguru now that they’re back at his house, safe, with no more demon to fight, and Saguru eagerly returns the kiss after his brief surprise. The next thing he knows, Kaito has led them, albeit with a bit of stumbling, into his bedroom while not breaking the deep kiss as they can’t seem to get enough of each other’s taste. Saguru gasps into Kaito’s mouth as he’s pushed onto the bed with Kaito falling on top of him, pinning him down both with his hands and mouth. Kaito begins nibbling on Saguru’s bottom lip, drawing small moans from Saguru followed by a yelp of pain as one of Kaito’s canines pierces the flesh, drawing some blood. Saguru pants for breath as Kaito breaks away from his mouth to lick at the blood on his lip. Why was Kaito being so rough, he had only ever known the kitsune to be gentle. He had first thought the roughness was just out of relief and what Saguru hoped, meant that the kitsune wanted him as much as he wanted Kaito. But this was getting to be more than a little rough, were youkai just naturally a little rougher than humans?  
Kaito placed a trail of kisses from his jaw, down the side of his neck, to his collarbone, growling, “I won’t let anyone else have you.” Then he bit into Saguru’s skin at the base of his neck.  
It wasn’t deep but still drew blood and Saguru cried out in surprise and pain, “Ahh! Kaito, wait a moment! No need to get so rough.”  
“No, I won’t wait. I want you now before anyone else can try taking you from me.”  
Oh. Kaito must have gotten scared again, thinking he was going to lose Saguru. That was understandable, even he thought he might die, for a moment, “Kaito it’s okay, I’m okay. You don’t need to worry, I promised to stay with you, remember?”  
Kaito licked at the wound on his neck, “That’s right,” he leaned in to whisper in Saguru’s ear, “I want you to stay with _me_. Forever.”  
Saguru’s heart seemed to somehow speed up even faster than it already was. Usually he’d find that attractive but there was something off in Kaito’s voice. He shoved at Kaito’s shoulders, pushing back enough to get a look at Kaito’s face. Amber eyes widened as they looked up at half lidded blue— except the eyes weren’t their usual bright colour— they were dulled, clouded with something else swirling in there— something dark— and it terrified Saguru.  
A whisper of the chilling voice of the demon suddenly taunted Saguru’s mind, “You can’t escape me.”  
Something was wrong. Saguru glanced at Kaito’s wrist searching for— it was gone, the protective bracelet he made was gone, instead there was a small cut along Kaito’s wrist. The bracelet must have been cut off when Kaito raised an arm to block one of the demon’s attacks. Kaito’s been tainted, a part of the demon infected his mind.  
Just as Saguru came to the realisation, his hands were suddenly crossed at the wrists and pinned above his head by one of Kaito’s. Saguru’s lower half was pinned by Kaito’s weight as the kitsune straddled Saguru’s waist, with surprisingly strong tails keeping his legs in place. Saguru was trapped.  
“Kaito! Snap out of it, don’t let the demon consume you!”  
Kaito gave him a confused look, slightly tilting his head and ears in a way that Saguru would normally find adorable under other circumstances, “What do you mean? We defeated that demon. It won’t get the chance to ever try to eat you again.” Then a sickening smirk appeared, “I’ll be the only one to consume you. You’re all mine.” Even though Kaito said the normally suggestive words, in a rough and very appealing voice, the smirk and look in the kitsune’s eyes were wrong. That wasn’t his Kaito.  
“I want to save the heart for last, so let’s start with the liver. I’ve heard that human livers are pretty tasty,” the kitsune licked its lips, “and I’m sure yours will be the tastiest.” A sharp nail was drawn across Saguru’s chest, just under his right rib, making an incision near the liver.  
Saguru cried out in pain as he struggled, but was firmly pinned under the youkai and his hands couldn’t break free of its strong grip. “Kaito! Stop, please— You don’t have to do this! I—”  
Saguru’s words were cut off by a kiss. When Kaito leaned back, he gave a saccharine smile, “Shush, Saguru dear, everything will be alright. Don’t you see? I’m doing this for you. Once I eat you, we can be together forever and nothing can ever tear us apart.”  
Tears started to fall from Saguru’s eyes from the burning pain in his chest. Whether the burning was from the physical torture of the wound or the mental torture of watching the one he loved most, lost to the demon in his mind, Saguru couldn’t tell. There was just pain. And it was the last thing he felt as dull blue eyes coldly stared at him and the kitsune he fell in love with carved out his liver and heart.

[Lovely art that inspired this bonus scene by [Poki/Chibs](https://sup-poki.tumblr.com) ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween~ <3
> 
> my two footnotes to myself are as follows
>
>> ahhh why~ i’m just gonna throw myself into a river, how am i even writing this
> 
> and
>
>> i muttered “wow. fuck you man” to myself at least eight times while writing this


	20. Chapter 20

**October 31st「Scared, me?」**

Even though they were now bonded, not much changed in Kaito and Saguru’s life.  
They still went into the forest together nearly every day, sometimes getting into trouble ranging from harmless inconveniences to heart racing escapes —“Why did I ever think it was a good idea to bond with you!?” Black ears tucked against his head as he ducked under yet another branch while weaving through the trees to try to lose their pursuer.  
“Because you can’t resist me!” The blond brat was able to turn his head to give him one of his brilliant smiles and a wink, while still managing not to trip as they ran from the boar— Kaito was still learning from his father how to become the best magician and guardian, he had now earned a lovely eighth tail; only one more until he was a full fledged nine tailed fox. Saguru continued to learn about and practice the ways of magic from Kaito and sometimes his fae friends. Plus he sometimes got lessons from Akako and Aoko whom he got to spend more time with now that he was in the spirit forest more often —the two kitsune sat to the side as they watched the two humans work on brewing an elixir.  
“So I guess it’s more bearable to be around me and Saguru now that you have your own cute human to bring along with us.” Kaito slightly leaned away from Aoko with ears tucked back, bracing for the annoyed shout he was about to receive….except it didn’t come. He opened one eye to peek at Aoko and his ears perked up at the daydreamy look on her face.  
“...Yeah they are pretty cute, especially Akako-chan.” Aoko let out an adorable little sigh.  
Oh. If that’s how he and Saguru looked, well no wonder Aoko didn’t care to be around them. So Kaito returned to fondly watching Saguru as he worked with the witch with that clever and curious spark in his amber eyes.— The biggest difference was that now they took turns sleeping over at each other’s homes, sharing a bed each night, since both homes were basically theirs.

Then one night Saguru, Kaito, Aoko, and Akako, go to a human festival. The same one that Kaito and Aoko first attended that is held every year. The one that led to Kaito and Saguru meeting. They have fun trying all the food and playing the various games. After enjoying the festival all night long, they finally head back to their forest and that’s when they all sensed it. Another human had entered the spirit part of the forest. Glancing at each other, they nod, quickly coming to an agreement as they swiftly and quietly make their way towards this unknown human.  
As they get near, Kaito and Akako cast a cloaking charm to conceal their presence; which was a smart precaution as they spot the human. The way there seems to be an almost sickening aura stuck to their skin and that hungry look in their eyes; a slayer has made their way into the spirit forest.  
Kaito shared a look with Aoko who nodded and whispered, “Me and Akako-chan will go contact your father.” And the two took off towards the nearest mirror pool.  
Kaito and Saguru turned back to carefully watch the slayer.  
Thankfully the slayer only lingered for another minute before heading back out of the forest. They watched the slayer return to the human village, but it was very likely that the slayer was scouting tonight and would return tomorrow.  
Saguru was about to ask Kaito about heading back to find a worried expression on his face.  
Upon seeing the frown on Kaito’s face, Saguru didn’t care for the look so he teasingly remarked, “You’re not scared, are you Kaito?”  
Kaito raises an eyebrow throwing him a confident smirk “Hah! Scared, me?” Then his expression softens as he gazes up at the full moon with a reminiscent look, “In the past, I probably would be, to be honest.” He turned to give Saguru a fond smile, “But I have you with me, and I feel like I can do anything. I’m not afraid anymore.”  
Saguru returned the fond smile.  
Kaito’s fond smile then turned into the grin that spelled trouble for whoever he set his sights on, “Now come on, there’s preparations to be made, we’ve got a forest to protect!”  
And so the two set off to confront their latest challenge, together; as they would continue to be for a long long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "And they all lived happily ever after~"  
And so that concludes my fictober 2019 story.  
  
Wow. Pretty cool I was actually able to keep up and write a bit for every day's prompt. (and even a lil bonus 'bad end' scene)  
Thank you lovely members of the hakukai server for reading my story everyday and showing your love & support; it made writing even more enjoyable.
> 
> And thank you reader, for reading my story!  
(^-^)  
Hope you enjoyed~


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